A large open space, preferably outside the city, would be right location for Lokotsav
Lokotsav, the ‘Festival of People’, is back in the state capital, Panaji, with its silver jubilee edition. The annual festival was introduced to Goa at the turn of the 21st century celebrating rural culture, folk art, traditional music, organic produce and local handicrafts. Primarily organised by the Directorate of Art and Culture, in collaboration with the West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur, during the winter, this festival provides a unique opportunity to public, to appreciate various products ranging from garments to showpieces, footwear to bags, carpets to furniture, paintings to traditional jewellery and more, belonging to different Indian states, as also purchase them. The overwhelming response of the masses to this 10-day event makes it a Lokotsav in the real sense of the word.
The festival, over the years, is also known for the display of multi-state cuisines at the food court, as also dance and music performances depicting the cultural diversity of India, which are organised every evening. These two aspects have largely helped in value addition to the amazing wealth of handicraft products. The stuffed kachori from Rajasthan, north Indian street chaats and fafda-jalebis from Gujarat form just a small part of Lokotsav’s culinary ensemble, while the attractive Bihu dance of Assam, the electrifying Lavni from Maharashtra and the storytelling through Rajasthan’s puppetry (Kathputli) tradition, among other performances, guarantee entertainment to the visiting crowds.
The cultural fest also provides an effective platform to local artisans, cooks and performing artists. Lokotsav provides a glimpse into local treasures ranging from Kunbi sarees to coconut shell crafts, mutton xacuti to rice polle and Dekhni dance to Mussal dance. A number of self-help groups and mahila mandals from the state find an excellent opportunity to market their products like local sweets, snacks and spices. It’s indeed a win-win situation for them.
The scale of Lokotsav is quite large with over 400 stalls, more than 500 performing artists and approximately 800 craftsmen and traditional food vendors opening up a ‘magical cave’ for the visitors eager to make purchases, savour dishes and enjoy the stage performances. It’s once-a-year extravaganza for them!
The location of Lokotsav however leaves much to be desired. The Darya Sangam premises near the Kala Academy Complex and the adjacent old football stadium provides ample space for the festival. However, the huge crowds turning up create a serious traffic problem along the Dayanand Bandodkar Road, throughout the period of the festival, especially from evening to late night. Those people travelling to Campal, Miramar, Caranzalem, Taleigao and Dona Paula are forced to face grave inconvenience. The footfall of around 10,000 to 15,000Â people visiting the festival, every day also become a nuisance to local residents, who have to suffer either due to undisciplined parking of vehicles around their residences, or bear with the stench as visitors to the festival relieve themselves in the particular area.
After organising 25 editions of Lokotsav, its organisers as well as the authorities should now find an alternate location for the mega event. A large open space, preferably outside the city, would be the right location for this festival, as also for many others like Goa Cashew Fest, Grape Escapade Wine Festival, Aqua Goa Mega Fish Festival and so on. The government should follow many major cities in other parts of the country, which have reserved a special open space for such exhibitions, with provision of facilities like washrooms. That would not only decongest the city of exhibition crowds, but also give the popular festival its own place.
