Butwal fair brings in crowd

Rupandehi, January 7:

Traders are delighted as scores of visitors throng their stalls put up at the ‘Trade Fair and Agriculture and Tourism Promotion Festival 2063’, that began in Butwal on December 30.

The Fair will continue till January 8.

The food festival, being organised alongside the fair with a view to promote delicacies from different communities in Nepal, is proving to be equally popular among visitors. Almost 500 visitors come to the food stalls put up by Hotel and Restaurant Entrepreneurs’ Association (HREA) Butwal daily, chairman of HREA Butwal Madhav Nepal said.

Different delicacies from Newar, Magar, and Gurung communities as well as other indigenous communities of mountain and hilly regions such as Dhindo, Gundruk curry, Kheer, Kurauni, Mahi, Nauni among others, are available in the food festival.

Cultural displays from different castes are also the major attraction for visitors. Similarly, over 400 visitors flock the stall put up by Tourism Information Centre daily. “The visitors mostly acquire information about tourist spots here and also enquire about handicraft produced here”, an employee of Tourist Information Centre Butwal, Suresh Sharma, said.

On the day of inauguration of the fair, the first group of tourists entering Nepal through Belhiya transit point, 14 Indian and two Australian tourists, were welcomed with garlands and were presented with Nepali Dhaka Topi (Nepali cap).

Travel arrangements have been made in the Belhiya transit point for tourists who are interested to visit the Trade Fair, which is being organised at some 25 kms from the transit point, members of the fair organising committee said.

“A number of foreign tourists including Indian nationals and French tourists are visiting the fair”, coordinator of the committee Rohit Raj Chettri said.

Similarly, an interaction programme was held by the fair organising committee recently with a view to introduce integrated plan to promote tourist spots in the entire Lumbini zone.

The organisers of the Trade Fair said Agriculture and Tourism Festival was included in the fair this year with a view to promote tourist spots here such as Parroha, Bolbam Dham and Jeetgadhi of Butwal as well as Lumbini, Tilaurakot and Devdaha.