The Delhi Government has chalked out a detailed itinerary to present a bouquet of programmes on art, culture, cinema, heritage and cuisines beginning later this month.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit along with Union Culture Secretary Jawhar Sircar released the cultural events calendar, “Delhi Celebrates”, at a function at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday.
“The cultural extravaganza, which will be on till November 4 will cater to the taste of every visitor and the locals. A number of special programmes have been planned during the Commonwealth Games. All the Delhi Government departments have decided to get together to present the biggest-ever show in the world. It is going to be an iconic festival in the history of culture,'' said the Chief Minister.
Ms. Dikshit said the Capital will become vibrant during these two months and present to its visitors a unique mix of the past and the present culture of the city. Programmes will be organised across the city to ensure dominance of the feel and fervour of “Delhi Celebrates”.
“The concept of Delhi Celebrates has been woven into a noble matrix and we hope that this becomes an annual feature. The people of Delhi are all set to witness one of the biggest celebrations of arts, crafts, culture, cuisine, music, dance, cinema, history and theatre from all over India in the form of this festival,'' said Mr. Sircar.
Some of the biggest names in their respective fields will be performing in the line up of various events.
As part of the festival, theatre lovers can catch up with plays including “Kaifi aur Main” featuring Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, “Ghalib” featuring Tom Alter in the lead as the world's favourite poet and “Eidgah” based on a story by renowned Urdu writer Munshi Premchand as a part of ‘Jashn-e-Dilli ' to be held at the Ansari Auditorium, Jamia Milia Islamia, from September 18 onwards.
But this is not all, lovers of mushairas, ghazals and qawallis can savour some of the best from this genre during the ‘Jashn-e-Dilli' as a festival featuring them will be held at the Town Hall in the historic Chandni Chowk.
The World Heritage monument Qutub Minar too will play host to the Qutub Festival from October 4 to 13 with some of the most renowned singers and performers coming together to enthral the audiences.
The performers at the Qutub Festival include Kailash Kher, Shankar Mahadevan, Kunal Ganjawala, Abhijeet, Indian Ocean, Euphoria, Sivamani, Louis Banks, Mohit Chauhan, Sadhna Sargam, Javed Ali, Hariharan and others. A detailed calendar of events during “Delhi Celebrates” can be accessed at www.delhitourism.gov.in.
