Lucknow Mahotsav to return after five years

Lucknow, Oct 13

The Lucknow Mahotsav, the festival that celebrated the state capital’s art and culture, will finally return after a gap of five years.

The cultural extravaganza will be organised at its old venue -- the Kanshi Ram Smriti Upvan in Ashiana from November 25 to December 5, said the official spokesman.

The 10-day event will be a kaleidoscope of performances by local/ international and Bollywood artistes, food stalls, mushairas, kavi sammelans, Yuva Mahotsav and other competitions, apart from handicraft exhibitions.

This year, boating would be the new attraction at the Mahotsav.

Mukesh Meshram, principal secretary, tourism, said, “If everything goes as per plan, the department of tourism will fund the Mahotsav and the district administration will organise it from November 25 to December 5 at the Kanshi Ram Smriti Upvan in Ashiana.”

According to officials of the tourism department, the other major attractions would be Braj, Awadhi and Bundeli folk songs. Mahotsav tickets would be priced at Rs 20 each, while the entry of children would be free.

Local/Mughlai cuisine, ekka-tonga race, vintage car rally, kabaddi, kite-flying, wrestling, drama competitions along with Lucknow’s traditional crafts like chikankari, zardozi and silver foil work would also be an attraction for visitors, said officials.

Tourism department officials said the target is to set up 1,000 stalls of various products from across Uttar Pradesh, besides stalls of handicrafts and artisans from various parts of the country.

A special enclosure of ‘One District One Product’ is also planned.

The Lucknow Mahotsav was first cancelled in 2019 in view of the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya and it was then pushed to January 2020 but was then called off due to the upcoming Defence Expo event being held in February.

Later the event could not be held due to the pandemic.