PANAJI
The Lokotsav festival which began on Friday and will go on until the next weekend at the Kala Academy and adjoining grounds is drawing the crowds who are soaking in the diverse art, culture and cuisine of different Indian States including hosts Goa.
What however is seemingly stealing the show is the tribal art which is part of the ‘craft mela’ introduced for the first time this year.
Traditional tribal craft items and also handicrafts are drawing immense interest from visitors.
Items like Bandhani, Kathputali, lac bangles, hand-made bags and leather footwear khadi, kotha, carpets, glass wear, clay art, wooden toys and also Goa’s own kunbi sarees and coconut palm and shell handicrafts are really drawing in the crowd.
Organisers said tribal art work from at least 18 States including Goa is on display.
Print and appliqué work from other States and Goa’s own crafts ‘patravali’ and the various decorative and daily use articles hand made from coconut shells are proving to be show stoppers at the festival.
Then there is also the live demonstration by Goa’s traditional makers of brooms.
Apart from the tribal art, the festival is also attracting eyeballs for the performances of folk-artistes from Assam, Manipur, Haryana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala.
The festival will go on for the next eight days until next Sunday and also features musical performances, dance shows and other entertainment performances and of course the culinary fare.
