Despite the scorching heat that has thrown normal life out of gear, the Millennium city is hosting a summer festival, which has been aptly named as ‘Baisakhi Baliyatra’. The eight-day-long festival started from April 8 at the same ground where the historic Baliyatra festival is held in the winters.
With stalls stacked with household ethnic items and food stalls having mouth-watering dishes, this summer Baliyatra is drawing massive crowds every evening.
“To promote trade and commerce and to provide a platform for exposure to small scale entrepreneurs, we thought of organising another festival in the same grandeur as that of famous Baliyatra in Cuttack about eight years ago”, says Sanjeev Behera, member of the Baisakhi Banijya Mela that organises this festival every year.
Cuttack was chosen because any product that clicks in Cuttack would sell like hot cakes all over the State, he said, adding that such fairs can serve as the much-needed respite for the denizens in summer.
This year, the festival is being organised in a grand manner with an aim to provide all sorts of entertainment that are associated with the winter Baliyatra. As many as 300 stalls have come up at this festival keeping the same majestic touch of the original Baliyatra, the organisers informed.
Depicting the symbol of ancient maritime glory of the erstwhile Kalinga, the festival showcases the traditional art and craft of the State with entertainment programmes too. Stalls having electronic goods, handicrafts, fast food, including Thunka Puri, non-vegetarian fast food and Dahi Vada-Alu Dum have all lined up to make brisk business.
The cultural shows every evening and Meena Bazaar are also major crowd pullers. Like the original festival, the district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the festival. The Baisakhi Banijya Mela would continue till April 15.