Nepal to participate Orange Festival in Kolkata

– Birat Anupam

Itahari, Nov 28 : Nepal is also being represented in the Orange Festival of Kolkata, West Bengal, India being held from coming December 10. A total of 200 Nepali orange growers and tourism professionals are scheduled to attend the two-day festival.

The biennial festival is being organized since 2014 and this year it will host Nepali representatives not only from Eastern Nepal districts of Ilam, Dhankuta, Bhojpur, among others, but also from Chitwan, Pokhara and Lumbini, shared Arjun Karki, one of the members of the official organizing committee of the festival.

The organizing committee, named Association for Conservation and Tourism is chaired by Raj Basu. ”The orange festival is a showcase of oranges grown in the Himalayan belts of Nepal Bhutan and India”, said Karki, who is also the leader of Nepali delegation since its inception. The festival also hosts stalls of hotels, travel agencies and other tourism products.

Karki also said this venue is the right place to brand Nepali oranges and other tourism products among BBIN region of South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. ”This year, we are also including Gandarbha who are an indispensible part of Nepal’s traditional cultural strength. As Nepalese channels are not shown in India, Indians and members of other nations do not have idea about Nepalese culture. Gandarbha would promote this. This may allure them to come to Nepal for cultural purpose also”, informed Karki.