Northeast: ‘Octave’ to showcase rich traditions of the seven sisters

NAGPUR: South Central Zone Cultural Centre, in association with West Zone Cultural Centre, will hold a four-day festival from December 1 to showcase the rich culture and heritage of north-eastern states.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, SCZCC director Deepak Khirwadkar and his counterpart from west zone Furkan Khan said the festival titled ‘Octave’ will have the participation of seven states of north-east and Assam.
The festival is being held since 2006 in a bid to link the far-flung eastern states with the mainland and was first held in Delhi. “Around 350 artistes and 25 craftsmen from Ärunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura have already arrived in the city for the event and are rehearsing for the performances,” said Khirwadkar.
The festival will be inaugurated by union transport minister Nitin Gadkari at 6pm. It will be open to public at 3pm and performances will begin at 6.30pm. “The premises of the cultural centre have been decorated to create ambience of the north-east states. The open air stage where dance performances will be staged has been given a backdrop of bamboo houses as it is widely used in the north-east,” said Khan.
The highlights of the performances will be a choreographed dance performance on December 1 after the inauguration; Manipuri rats on December 2; Sattariya, a classical dance from Assam, on December 3 and an instrumental music performance by a band from Assam on December 4.
“There will be 15 folk dance, one instrumental and two classical performances by the artistes,” Khan said. Some of the dance presentations have been choreographed by Tarun Pradhan from Kolkata.
“The stalls will exhibit and sell crafts from the north-eastern states. A painting exhibition by artists from theses states will also be organized at the art gallery,” said Khirwadkar.
The festival is open to all and there is no entry fee.