my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Oct: As in previous years, REACH (Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural Heritage) is once again preparing to organise the Virasat Art and Heritage Festival 2026 on an exceptionally grand and attractive scale, featuring renowned traditional and folk artists. The organisation’s founder, RK Singh, stated that Virasat would be taken to the international level.Addressing the media at a hotel on Rajpur Road, today, RK Singh said that, this year, the Virasat Festival would be organised on a grand scale at the Himalayan Cultural Centre in Nimbuwala, Dehradun. The objective is to introduce the festival in a renewed traditional format while providing visitors with an excellent experience. The new venue has also been selected to address traffic-related challenges and ensure that distinguished guests face no inconvenience upon arrival.Singh stated that the festival will commence on 23 October and continue until 6 November.He said that the organisation’s objective is to take Virasat to the international stage and expressed confidence that this endeavour would be successful in the near future. He further informed the media that 29 programmes would be organised in the auditorium and that a theatre festival would also be introduced.Singh added that the organisation hoped the new venue would eventually enable distinguished guests attending Virasat to arrive by charter aircraft and proceed directly to the festival.The festival will open with a Chholiya dance performance and a folk music presentation by the Upreti Sisters. The inaugural ceremony will also feature Hindustani classical music, with renowned thumri vocalist Pandit Sajan Mishra and Swaransh Mishra showcasing their artistry.The 15-day festival will conclude with a spectacular performance by internationally acclaimed singer Usha Uthup.For 15 days, residents of Dehradun will have the opportunity to enjoy Indian and international music, dance, art and a wide variety of culinary offerings. The festival has consistently been recognised for showcasing Uttarakhand’s rich cultural heritage.The event will also offer attractive opportunities for shopping enthusiasts. Visitors will be able to explore and purchase an extensive range of products, including traditional garments, premium dry fruits sourced from India and abroad, soft woollen mattresses, intricately carved wooden artefacts, metal handicrafts, quilts, attractive furniture and hundreds of other useful and artistic products.Singh stated that hosting the Virasat Festival this year within the expansive premises of the Himalayan Cultural Centre would provide visitors with a unique experience combining shopping with regional and national folk arts. Various folk performances will be organised at Virasat Village and the amphitheatre.One of the major attractions of the festival will be the folk theatrical presentation Chakravyuh. The festival will also showcase the diverse folk traditions and art forms of Uttarakhand on a grand scale.The organisation will present Jaunsari folk dances. Jaunsar Bawar Lok Sur Sangam and Jaunsar Bawar Sanskritik Hiloyat Rangmanch will present folk dances and music. The Aas Social and Culture Society will showcase Kumaoni folk music and dance.In addition, Sarita Banola from Kotdwar will present Garhwali folk dances, while the Mahila Jagriti Samiti will perform Garhwali music and dance. The Pandavani Lok Kala Manch will also present folk performances, and Sunidhi will showcase Kumaoni folk art.Providing further details to journalists, Singh announced that the international cultural programme would include a special performance by an international folk art troupe from Sri Lanka. Artists from Kazakhstan would also captivate audiences with their musical performances.The festival’s cultural programme will feature a diverse range of performances by distinguished artists from India and abroad.Young violinist Ragini Shankar will present a violin recital, while Smit Tiwari will perform on the sarod. Ivy Banerjee will present thumri vocals, and Ashwin Srinivasan will mesmerise audiences with his bansuri recital. Dhruv Bedi and Samanway Sarkar will perform on the sitar.Priyanka Barve will present ghazals, while Siddharth Belmannu will delight audiences with his vocal performance.Shinjini Kulkarni will present a Kathak recital. Aarohi Munshi, Vani Madhav and Moumala Nayak will respectively perform Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathak.Another major attraction of the festival will be veena recitals by Rajesh Vaidya and Ramana Balachandran.Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Begum Parveen Sultana will deliver a performance. The festival will also feature distinguished Carnatic classical vocalist TM Krishna and eminent violinist Dr N Rajam.In addition, popular Sufi and spiritual music artist Osmaan Mir, the renowned Indian band Indian Ocean, Hindustani classical vocalist Anol Chatterjee, Mahesh Kale and Rahul Deshpande will present their performances.Rajan Sajuwar will present thumri singing in the Gaya gharana style.Renowned singer Jasbir Jassi will present a special musical tribute in honour of Raja Randhir Singh.A special evening celebrating the unique confluence of Indian and Western music will also be organised. The programme will feature eminent violinist Kumaresh performing alongside internationally acclaimed saxophonist George Brooks.The festival will also feature several distinctive thematic productions, including Bahar-e-Lucknow, a dance presentation by Pandit Krishna Mohan; Chandni Mehfil, in which Manjari Chaturvedi will narrate the history and cultural heritage of the tawaifs; and Tawaifnama – Ek Yatra.
Furthermore, to commemorate 125 years of the gramophone, The Performing Arts Tribe will present a special programme dedicated to the memory of Gauhar Jaan.The Virasat Festival will also feature a rich literary programme for literature enthusiasts. Eminent authors, poets, speakers and prominent personalities from the literary world will participate in the event.Well-known literary figures from Dehradun will include Sanjeev Chopra, Buddhinath Mishra, Rajkumar Panwar, Manoj Bharthwal, Ambar Kharbanda, Bharti Mishra, Someshwar Pandey, Inderjeet Singh, Gandharv Gopal Joshi and Sachin Chauhan.A special literary and crime literature festival will also be organised as part of the event. Various authors will share their perspectives and discuss different aspects of literature and crime writing.The festival will provide a platform for the distinctive traditional art of dastangoi, the art of storytelling through oral narration.Astha Shukla, Tasneem Sund and Syed Sahil Agha will introduce audiences to this traditional art form through their distinctive storytelling performances.A grand mushaira will feature eminent poets and prominent figures from Urdu literature, including Sheen Kaaf Nizam, Madan Mohan Danish, Rajesh Reddy, Iqbal Ashhar, Azhar Iqbal, Mukesh Alam and Muzaffar Abdali.A Hindi poetry symposium will also be organised for poetry enthusiasts. Arun Sharma, Pradeep Mayus, Ramesh Chandra, Rajni Chauhan and Nikhil Chauhan will delight audiences with their poetry.The Virasat Festival will organise several educational and creative activities for school students. The objective is to familiarise children with art, cultural heritage and traditional crafts while encouraging and nurturing their creative talents.‘Shilp Treasure Hunt’: Traditional handicrafts and cultural heritage will also form an important part of the festival’s activities.Virasat Heritage Quiz: An educational quiz for school students will be organised by the Vikas Evam Utthan Samiti.Virasat Sadhana: Students from Dehradun will present classical music and dance performances.All these activities will be held on different dates and across various stages throughout the festival.A vintage car and motorcycle rally, a superbike rally and a folk theatrical presentation focusing on environmental issues in Uttarakhand will also be among the festival’s major attractions.The press conference was attended by R.K. Singh, Founder and President of REACH; Vijayashree Joshi, Joint Secretary of REACH; Lokesh Ohri, Director of the Virasat Festival; Priyanda Iyer; REACH members Ashutosh and Sameer Sinha of the Uttarakhand Forest Department; and Neeraj Sharma, Head of HR at ONGC.
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