Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 5:

Owing to ongoing conflict, cultural activities are increasingly confined to the ambit of Kathmandu since the last nine years. In course of this scenario, for the last eight days Bhrikuti Mandap is a centre of attraction for folk-song lovers after the Nepal Folk Duet Cultural Entrepreneurs Association opened the nationwide Open Folk Duet Competition. Today was no festival but tens of thousands people collected at the Bhrikuti Mandap. Not an inch of space was left un-occupied. Hordes had to wait for hours to enter the venue. Today being the final day of the eight-day-long Lok Dohori competition, organisers charged double the usual entrance fee. The prices of food items and beverages at the stalls were also double. Even so, people had to queue up for these.

Many complained they were not allowed to dance to the tune of the songs. Posses of policemen had a tough time controlling the charged audience. Some clambered onto their seats and began dancing. Laxmi Karki, 55, of Dhading said she shut shop much before her usual deadline to attend the programme. Karki, a tea shop owner at Ason, said she was very happy to see the sea of people in Kathmandu after such a long time. Most people came with their family members and were lip-syncing the songs. A woman tempo driver chattered animatedly about the competition with her passengers while driving through Bhrikuti Mandap. Outside the venue, hundreds of people clustered around the boundary walls, craning their necks to get an earful.

“This being the first such competition, we never expected such a response or that so many people would turn up. We are afraid we could not cater to them properly,” said Ujjwal Thakuri, president of the association. He said the next competition would be held as a national festival and would be more well-managed. Thakuri estimated a total of over four lakh people had come to watch the competition. This number includes today attendees. Incidentally, today’s turnout was thrice than that on the previous days.