2nd 'North East India Festival' in Thailand from February 21-23

New Delhi, February 1, 2020:

The 2^nd iteration of the North East India Festival will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from February 21 to 23 to promote the culture of the Northeast in the neighboring country.

Central World in Bangkok, which attracts at least one lakh visitors each day, has been chosen as the venue for the festival, while seminars will be held at the Centara Grand Hotel in the city.

Jurin Laksanawisit, who is Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, is expected to be present in the the inaugural session, along with Chief Ministers of several Northeast Indian states. A strong Minister level delegation will also be going from Assam including Chandramohan Patowary (Minister for Transport, Industries and Commerce), Chandan Brahma (Tourism Minister), and Atul Bora (Agriculture Minister).

ALSO READ: “BJP has Tendency to Lie and Cheat Voters”: Tarun Gogoi’s Reaction to Budget 2020

The festival is expected to showcase the best of Northeast India's tourism potential. A B2B Meet has also been organized between stakeholders of both the regions and will be attended by around 100 prominent entrepreneurs of Thailand who will interact with the Northeast Indian states.

To strengthen the relationship between the Northeast and Thailand, a people-to-people Exchange Programme, along with interactions among scholars, historians, and students of Northeast India with academicians and scholars of Thailand will also be held.

More that 50 students will be travelling from the NER to attend the P2P meet and also visit various Universities of Thailand.  The People to People Exchange Programme will be chaired by Ms Suchitra Durai, Hon’ble Indian Ambassador to Thailand. The meet will explore conversations among scholars of Tai Ahom, Tai Phake, and Tai Singphoh communities of North East who have strong Thai historic linkage.

ALSO READ: Historic! Sivasagar among 5 Archaeological Sites to be Given ‘Iconic’ Status under New Budget

The three-day program will also feature performances by artists such as Papon, Trance Effect, David Angu and Tribes, Soulmate and some of the most popular Thai Rock bands such as Slot Machine.

The main Festival at Central World will have exhibition from Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal, Tripura, and Nagaland and shalll showcase tourism and trade potential of the various States. Spectacular cultural performances of various folk dances of North East will also be held during the course of the event.

 “A team of around 500 people is travelling from North East to Thailand for 2^nd North East India Festival. After successful first edition we are very enthusiastic for the festival which, for the first time, is trying to promote North East India’s Trade, Tourism and Culture in Thailand in a methodical way", said Shyamkanu Mahanta, the Chief Organizer of the North East India festival, adding, "The event is actually an extension of Act East policy of India and we are grateful to the PM of India Narendra Modi for mentioning our effort in his recent visit to Thailand last year."

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.