The opening day of the 2nd edition of .FEST was an
astounding success as Over fifteen thousand citizens and visitors headed to IDCO exhibition
grounds on Sunday for an evening of fun filled extravangaza. The first day of the festival of
festivals witnessed a thrilling line up of curtain raiser music and dance performances; with
some of the most popular celebrities gracing the event. The cultural festival brings an
experience like never-before for the people of Odisha with oodles of Fun, Food, Entertainment,
Stories or Trails packed from 15th to 29th January 2023.
Addressing the audience on the 1 st day of the event Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha
said, “This is a moment of glory for Odisha, we are here experiencing an ecstatic evening of
honor. The India and the world is present in Odisha, and let us celebrate with all our hearts and
minds together. Bhubaneswar is immensely honored to host the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup
tournament for the second consecutive time, where people from 16 nations and across the
globe are coming here to enjoy every bit of our city”, others among the addressing panel were,
Smt. Sulochana Das, BMC Mayor, Shri. Ananta Narayan Jena, MLA, Shri. Susanta Kumar Rout
MLA, Shri. Ashok Panda, MLA, SmtUsha Debi, Minister of Housing and Urban Development of
Odisha,Shri. Pradeep Kumar Jena, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary,
Shri. Balwant Singh, Vice-Commissioner, BDA, Shri. Vijay Amruta Kulange, Commissioner, BMC,
Shri. V. K.Pandian, Secretary of Transformational Initiatives (5T), and Shri. D. K. Singh, Home
Secretary.
The tone was set for the evening as the event got off to a great start with performances from
DishaPatani, Guru Randhawa and Black Swan bringing electrifying magic to the stage. One of
the most anticipated events of the day was the international food festival showcasing global
cusines from 16 participating countries in FIH hockey Men’s Worldcup 2023. With visitors old
and young delighting on popular cuisines from various states of India and relishing on delicacies
from Odisha. As part of the cultural extravaganza, the Night Bazaar/Flea Market brightened up
Bhubaneswar’s winter nights and provided a remarkable stage for regional artists, start-ups,
performers, makers, and creators to showcase their products. The Flea Market set up with an
aim to promote the handloom and handicrafts of Odisha, turned out to be a spectacular crowd
puller with more than 120 plus home-grown products at display, making it a shopping fiesta for
the visitors.
The distinguishing feature of the .FEST has been Sebbe-Au-Ebbe (Then & Now), a photo
exhibition that showcased the glorious urban/ city history of Bhubaneswar, one of the 1st
Planned cities of Independent India, along with the first of its kind uniquely curated experiential
trails around the city of Bhubaneswar, additionally offering visitors to experience the
Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFesSto) specifically curated for the children along with
elderly to keep alive the great saga of local literature, poetry & stories.
Providing the experience of a fortnight long festival of festivals, .FEST was first curated in 2018.
The previous edition of .FEST witnessed a massive success with millions of Bhubaneswar locals
& others from around the world including the best hockey players along with International and
national media. This year, the visitors can experience trails around the city of Bhubaneswar,
visitors can also experience the Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFeSto) specifically
curated for the children along with elderly to keep alive the great saga of local literature, poetry
& stories.
Day 2 of the .FEST will see spectacular performences again in a reinvigorated and winsome
avatar, much to the delight of the attendees. Priya Malik, Navraj Hans, Harshdeep Kaur and
DiptiRekhaPadhi to present soulful sufi melodies. Beginning at 5pm, the 15 day festival
continues till 12 in the midnight.
