World Tourism Day Festival 2016 to focus on rice conservation

Prashant Acharya, EOI, SILIGURI, 7 Sep 2016: A World Tourism Day Festival will be celebrated from September 30 to October 2 at City Centre, Siliguri with a view to promote the region's tourism and exchange its heritage, culture and knowledge. The festival will focus on saving locally grown types of rice  that have drastically fallen in production due to the rise of hybrid rice companies. More than 1,500 varieties of rice will be displayed during the three-day event.

Nidhi Singh, coordinator of 'Krishi Chaupal' who is working for the conservation of rice, said there are 82,000 varieties of rice in India, but most of them are on the verge of extinction due to hybrid rice types dominating the market. "We who live in this natural paradise of India's east and northeast, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, northern Bangladesh and upper Myanmar have realised that tourism is more of a philosophy  that has helped to establish peace, provide social support, confirm conservation of natural and cultural resources locally, nurture heritage and above all bring a sense of pride to our lives. We have given the

Rice and Silk Routes to the world, but have hardly been recognised, and it is only recently that tourism has entered our rural homes and empowered us to open our window to the world. The world may have   moved ahead, but we still believe that the roots are in the villages, where food is being produced from Mother Earth," said Raj Basu, convenor of the Association for Conservation of Tourism (ACT).

"A number of community and grassroots level organisations have come forward to organise the festival this year too and an equal number of urban organisations who patronise rural produce have also come together to make this festival meaningful. This year, besides rice (Vrihi), we will be highlighting organic agriculture and relevant rural products. We shall create a platform for farmers and agro-experts to discuss their issues and interact. The celebrations will include folk, classical and contemporary performances. We shall connect tourism (Vraman) with all that is 'grameen' (rural) and make sure we create  a new generation of visitors who will connect to rural heritage," said one of the festival coordinators.

Local fashion designer Alka Sharma will showcase traditional apparel to promote rural tourism and women from villages will walk the ramp for the first time in Siliguri. They will also participate in the first-ever Mrs Tourism Siliguri Fashion contest.

The three-day long festival will include seminars on rice, organic foods and tourism, stalls showcasing various indigenous items from India, Nepal and Bhutan, fashion shows, Sikkim Express Tourism Awards 2016, awareness programmes to stop human trafficking, and cultural  shows, art and photography competitions.