Celebrating 70 years of Nepal-US friendship, a Cultural Mela was held at the Staff College in the Capital on Saturday. Featuring various stalls including ones from Karkhana, Youth Thinkers Society, We Inspire Nepal, Artlab, Glocal Nepal, the mela saw performances by artists in the likes of Kanta dAb dAb, Nirnaya the NSK, the Newaz and the Mental Radio. 

Speaking to the Post, Cultural Affairs Officer of US embassy, Willam Holton, said, “Nepal and the US share a very good bilateral relationship. We have been helping each others in various ways through the decades and this event honours that special friendship.” He added, “Having previously hosted events that focus on the political aspects of the bilateral relationship, we wanted to organise a celebration from a cultural point of view as well. Nepal and the US share a relationship outside of just politics and development and this event honours those cultural exchanges.”

One of the main attractions of the event was the information booth for students applying for further studies in the US.

Speaking about the booth, Janak Raj Bhatta of US Embassy in Nepal said: “Among many Nepali students applying for further studies to the US, it is rare have information regarding how to do it correctly. As this event is youth-oriented, we decided to include an information centre for the students so that they have a better idea about studying in US, as well as how to correctly go about it.”  Another stall, by National Election Commission, featured stimulation of the local election happening next month.

According to the US Embassy Nepal, it will also be hosting three other cultural melas in various part of country this year to celebrate the bilateral ties the two countries share.