Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday inaugurated the fortnight-long DotFEST festival in Bhubaneswar.
The first day of the DotFEST witnessed a thrilling lineup of curtain-raiser music and dance performances, with some of the most popular celebrities gracing the event.
The cultural festival brings an experience like never before for the people of Odisha with oodles of fun, food, entertainment, stories or trails packed from January 15 to 29.
During the inaugural address, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, "This is a moment of glory for Odisha, we are here experiencing an ecstatic evening of honour. India and the world are present in Odisha, and let us celebrate with all our hearts and minds. Bhubaneswar is immensely honoured to host the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup tournament for the second consecutive time, where people from 16 nations and across the globe are coming here to enjoy every bit of our city."
The tone was set for the evening as the event got off to a great start with performances from Disha Patani, Guru Randhawa and Black Swan bringing electrifying magic to the stage. One of the most anticipated events of the day was the international food festival showcasing global cuisines from 16 participating countries in FIH hockey Men's Worldcup 2023. With visitors old and young delighting in popular cuisines from various states of India and relishing delicacies from Odisha.
As part of the cultural extravaganza, the Night Bazaar or the Flea Market brightened up Bhubaneswar's winter nights and provided a remarkable stage for regional artists, start-ups, performers, makers, and creators to showcase their products. The Flea Market set up with an aim to promote the handloom and handicrafts of Odisha, turned out to be a spectacular crowd puller with more than 120 plus home-grown products at the display, making it a shopping fiesta for the visitors.
The distinguishing feature of the DotFEST has been Sebbe-Au-Ebbe (Then & Now), a photo exhibition that showcased the glorious urban/ city history of Bhubaneswar, one of the 1st Planned cities of Independent India, along with the first of its kind uniquely curated experiential trails around the city of Bhubaneswar, additionally offering visitors to experience the Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFesSto) specifically curated for the children along with elderly to keep alive the great saga of local literature, poetry & stories.
Providing the experience of a fortnight-long festival of festivals, DotFEST was first curated in 2018. The previous edition of DotFEST witnessed a massive success with millions of Bhubaneswar locals and others from around the world including the best hockey players along with International and national media.
Day 2 of the DotFEST will see spectacular performances again in a new and winsome avatar, much to the delight of the attendees. Priya Malik, Navraj Hans, and Harshdeep Kaur will present soulful Sufi melodies. Beginning at 5 pm, the 15-day festival continues till 12 at the midnight.
( With inputs from ANI )
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