Shillong, Sept 14: Meghalaya is all set to woo tourists with its one of the most popular festivals – the Shillong Autumn Festival this October.
The festival will be held on October 26 and 27 at Water Sports Complex, Orchid Lake Resort, Umïam.
Announcing this on Saturday, Alethea Lyngwa, one of the members of the Opus Production said, the autumn festival is Shillong’s most loved festival and our aim is to make it the biggest festival.
After a gap of five years, the Shillong Autumn Festival made a successful comeback last year after the new organizers ‘Opus Production’ – took over from the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum.
“We should have a festival which is synonymous with the city and the state, which will attract tourists and obviously the entire local population will also be part of,†she said.
Lyngwa also informed that the tourism department has decided to partner and support the festival, this year. “Our budget is yet to be finalized, and we are hoping for more sponsors to come in so that we can make this festival bigger and better,†she added.
Stating that the target is to push the festival to a point where tourists could relate to the state and its people, Andreas War said the whole agenda is to attracting more people from outside like Assam, West Bengal and other states.
In line with this year’s theme – ‘Rhythm of Meghalaya’, War informed that a beat contest for music bands will be organized in the first week of October as the run up to the festival.
“We have kept it open not only to bands from Meghalaya but from outstation bands as well. The prize money for the beat contest is Rs 1 lakh and the runner’s up is Rs 50,000. The winner of course will get to perform on the autumn festival’s main stage,†he said.
The fun filled festival will offer its visitors a wide array of entertaining events with cultural programmes, fashion show and musical concerts on the scene.
Meban Warjri said the main two-day event will also feature Mumbai-based rock band Indus Creed and an international DJ from the US besides renowned local bands like Snow White and Summersalt.
The other highlights of the family-oriented event include water sports, kids’ play area, magic show, foodstalls, merchandise, Gen-X stage and camping facilities at the picturesque lake.
