In an effort to market Meghalaya's Garo Hills as a winter holiday destination, the annual Dimchrang Festival at Ampati in South West Garo Hills made its pitch to showcase a volley of activities, which were aimed at spreading awareness about the region and its lifestyle.
The two-day festival from December 9-10 demonstrated indigenous sports, music and cultural bonhomie. It also showcased the Korean choir to send out a clear message that the Garo Hills is indeed ready as a Christmas and a New Year destination.
The art and culture department in collaboration with the district level arts and cultural societies have been putting up spectacular shows to fructify the ambitious plans of the government to brand and market Garo Hills, known for its exclusive lifestyle, culture and scenic beauty.
This year's event at Ampati was organised by Ampati Arts and Cultural Society, District Administration of South West Garo Hills in collaboration with Arts and Culture Department, Government of Meghalaya and Meghalaya Tourism.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma believes that such events will put the region on a global tourism map, which in turn will increase flow of visitors to this beautiful part of the world.
He attended the festival on both days.
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He said that such festival has given much needed exposure and attention to the region. Talking about the promotion, he said that if people from cross culture attend the event, they help in sharing the stories. He also spoke on the power of social media, which play a vital role in spreading awareness.
The theme for this year's event was "youth as change maker" and in sync with this, the organisers had invited Senorita Miss International India 2016 Rewati Chetri to walk the ramp during the Dimchrang Queen 2016.
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Zenith Sangma felicitated Chetri during the inaugural programme of the festival.
Chetri acknowledged the initiative of the festival and crowned the winners of the beauty pageant Shano Chelsy Sangma, while the first and second runners up were - Annameza Sangma and Iyana Rinkhy Sangma.
The other highlights of the festival were - Sepak Takro, a leg volleyball, which was demonstrated and played for the first time in the Garo Hills. The team from Sports Authority of India, Imphal also held workshop for the local youth and displayed an exhibition match.
The local youth were also given opportunity to team up and take part in the sport.
It was a musical sojourn with several bands performing on the last day including Still Waters from Sikkim, which featured Abhishek Gurung, finalist of a popular TV show - The Stage (Season 2).
The festival also gave opportunity for the youth to showcase their skills in different art forms.