Festival to showcase united colours of NE

Delhiites will get a chance to savour ethnic delicacies of the northeast like Aksa-Dol and Ngatok at a festival here this week showcasing the rich culture, food habits, tradition and diversity of the region.
The first North East Festival at the Indira Gandhi National Centre For the Arts on November 8 and 9 will be a potpourri of events in a carnival format with live musical performances throughout the day in the amphitheatre while serious discussions on business, economy, social-political issues of the region will take place in the conference halls.
The event is organised by socio-cultural trust Trend MMS in association with North East MP's Forum and IGNCA, with support from the Ministry of DoNER, North East India Image Managers and various students' organisations.

The idea behind this unique festival is to bridge the gap between the northeast and other parts of India and promotion of myriad tourist spots and music culture of the region among others, the organisers say.
Both the evenings would see some of the best performing artists from the northeast making a mark in national and international arena performing live at the main stage area, while there will be exhibition of handloom and handicraft items at the exhibition area.
Bollywood singers from Assam Zubin Garg of 'Ya Ali' fame and Kalpana Patowary, who has sung the chartbuster 'Gandi baat', rockstar Lou Majaw, Manipuri folk musician Guru Rewben Mashangva and rock band Alobo Naga will be among the performers.

There will be a special tourism zone as well, wherein 25 tour operators from the region will take visitors through a virtual tour of the northeast and also spot sell various travel packages at special rates.
One of the biggest attractions of the fest is the North Eastern Food Zone wherein chefs Mary Lalboi and Atul Lahkar will serve ethnic food from all the eight states and various tribes and communities of the region.