KATHMANDU: The 16th Ncell Presents Durbarmarg Street Festival ‘Purple Saturday’, which was held on the 2nd of Baisakh, has been magnificently finished in honor of the Nepali New Year 2080.
With the theme “Nepali production is our pride, civilization and culture is our job,” this festival was organized. This festival was put on by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Ncell, the Durbarmarg Development Board, and the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (ReBAN).
The festival was jointly inaugurated by Sudan Kirati, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Chandra Dhakal, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Anjan Shrestha, Senior Vice President of FNCCI, Andy Chong, CEO of Ncell, and representatives of the Durbarmarg Development Board and ReBAN.
The primary goals of this festival are to support domestic tourism, maintain a positive work environment for micro, small and medium enterprises, and the tourism industry, promote Nepali goods, Nepali cuisine, and Nepali culture, and support the promotion and preservation of culture within the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
A performance that reflected the culture of the Kathmandu Valley served as the festival’s official opening at 11:00 am. The festival was organized enthusiastically until 9 o’clock, with a variety of amusing performances and enjoyable activities in the vicinity of the festival’s location.
From the beginning of the program until late at night, more than 150,000 people attended the festival.
This festival featured performances by well-known musicians, performers, and artists. The audience and guests received plenty of entertainment from Kutumb, Deepak Bajracharya and Rhythm Band, Pahelo Battimuni, Trishala Gurung, Aviskar KC, Rohit Shakya, Synchronous, Lahure, and The Elements.
Additionally, items made by handicraft entrepreneurs, including women entrepreneurs, with a variety of physical abilities, and other items were displayed.
Children were given their own area with a variety of fun games, while the festival’s main draw was a variety of stalls selling Nepali food and other locally produced goods.
Similar to that, a video game enthusiast’s online gaming competition was also held at the festival. For those who attended the festival, a Tiktok booth and a DJ booth were also set up to take pictures and videos.
In the context of the ongoing work on how the economy, tourism business, which has been weakened for a number of reasons including the recent liquidity crisis, can be brought to revival, the organizers believe that the festival will provide a great support in this effort.