The Uttar Pradesh Festival, which celebrated India’s most populous state and its manifold industrial and cultural offerings, concluded in the Capital on Sunday. The festival was jointly organised by the Embassy of India and BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation.

The four-day event had been inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi on Thursday. The opening ceremony of the festival saw a performance by Ustad Bismillah Khan’s family, followed by Ustad Ali Abbas Khan, who led a troupe of five Shehnai players. The cultural performances were then followed by the opening of an exhibition that had textiles and handicrafts from Uttar Pradesh on display. The  event concluded with the inauguration of the UP Food Festival, which had on offer, among others, Awadi cuisine prepared by the legendary Tunde Restaurant of Lucknow.

The second day of the fest saw the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal Tourism Symposium on the theme: Promoting Cross-Border Tourism. The symposium featured panelists from the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Board, Nepal Tourism Board and Government and non-Governmental stake holders in the tourism industry.  This was followed by another symposium on the theme “Promoting Cross-Border Business Ties”.  The symposium featured panelists from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, Uttar Pradesh, trade representatives and Government and non-Governmental stake holders in Nepal.

The four-day festival ended with the closing of the textile and handicraft exhibit on Sunday.