Jamshedpur, May 29: The third edition of street festival, [email protected] at Bistupur Main Road on Sunday proved to be even bigger than the previous two, as over 20,000 people hit the streets to make their presence felt in the much awaited event.
The last Sunday of May witnessed maximum participation compared to the previous events. From dancing to DJ and zumba young boys and girls and teenagers had amazing start to their Sunday. The program started at 5:30 a.m. concluded at 9 a.m.
With summer vacations going on in most of the schools and colleges, the festival provided an opportunity for the youths to interact with their friends and spend quality time together. “I am really happy to be here. I met my friend for the first time in this year. She stays in Bangalore and studies there.
I never knew we would meet at the street festival and share some nostalgic moments,” said Parul Mathur, a resident of Sakchi.
For the first time the participants got a flavor of the region with Purulia chhau masks. Kalamandir, a Jamshedpur based NGO, roped in Purulia chhau dancers, who performed to create awareness among the visitors. People clicked selfies with the chhau masks on. Right from senior citizens to young children everyone made sure to grab an opportunity.
“We are very excited to be a part of the festival. The crowd appreciated us and we loved every moment of it. There were children and mothers specially insisted to click pictures with the huge masks,” said a Purulia chhau artiste from Patamda. The artistes also came with dhol, anagada and a mahuri telling people about Jharkhand’s own culture.
A Jamshedpur-based adventure activity firm Odyssey Wonders introduced wall climbing, trampoline and shooting for youngsters and children for the first time at the event. The young crowd participated in every sporting activity that came their way.
The usual busy Bistupur Main Road wore a festive look as people from different walks of life participated in it. The maiden edition of [email protected] was organized on February 21, saw a rousing response with denizens hitting streets on early morning.
[email protected] day is akin to a street festival with goodies which can be indulged in by the whole family. Seeing the involvement of the community in the festival, newer attractions have been added like more entertaining items and games, trampoline ,tattoo corner, wall climbing , chhau mask making, tribal painting and other activities.
Together with games, there were rock bands belching out Bollywood songs adding to the Sunday euphoria. There were food stalls offered a variety of morning delights including sandwiches, cakes, pastry, green smoothies, etc.
Moreover, tea, puri bhaji, pastries, sandwiches, dosa, dhokla, everything was available in the food corner set up and managed by the Jamshedpur Hoteliers Association. There were also artists who painted in the festival.
There was a talent hunt show, zumba, dance, bicycle stunts practiced individually by youngsters, basketball, boxing and badminton.