Folk artistes taking a selfie break during the Baisakhi Mela 2015 at the IGNCA in New Delhi on Friday.— Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
With Baisakhi around the corner, the city is gearing up to celebrate the weekend with some festive fervour and a taste of rural Punjab.
The lawns at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) have been converted into a festive zone. It has stalls where artisans from Punjab are selling kurtas and bags with phulkari work, juttis , wooden curios with inlay work, costume jewellery and other trinkets.
A stage that is built at the centre of the garden will see a host of traditional performances like giddha ,bazi , gatka dhadi and bhangra lined up all day. A Punjab village has also been re-created at the venue.
The festival is being organised by the Punjabi Academy and the Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Government of Delhi.
At a similar mela being organised by Delhi Tourism in the sprawling Garden of Five Senses, the evenings will come alive with cultural programs and artists from academies like the Sahitya Kala Parishad and Punjabi Academy performing at the amphitheatre.
At both events, a food court will offer Punjabi delicacies. The two-day event at the IGNCA lawns begins on April 11 from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event at the Garden of Five Senses ends on April 13.