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As nippy winter evenings call for pithe-puli, sweets and chocolates, the annual Christmas Carnival of Lake Town’s Sreebhumi Sporting Club turns the cosy season into a grand spectacle, held every year from 24 December to 1 January.
Kicking off at the service lane from Lake Town Clock Tower and concluding at Sreebhumi, the celebration lights up the city’s winter nights with its celebration of two different customs — Christmas for the festive spirit and Poush Parbon for the heart of Bengalis.
The two festivals come together on the streets of Lake Town to create a vibrant cultural space in Kolkata, bringing a taste of Park Street to the northern fringes of Kolkata.
The streets light up in myriad colours, dazzling lights, music, food and a wide variety of food stalls and cultural programmes.
A full-on town festival, it brings forth Kolkatans from localities as far as Girish Park and Manicktala to nearby spots of New Town and Salt Lake among other corners of the city. The massive crowd on the streets prove that Kolkata never sleeps, especially during the festive season.
With dedicated stalls offering everything from bhapa and narkel pithe to kheerer patisapta and dudhpuli, the carnival is a haven for those who crave a slice of Kolkata’s classic winter treats.
Christmas is incomplete without chocolates and the carnival celebrates the festive joy with its variety of homemade sweets. Choco-and-milk duet, dark chocolates and even a towering choco fountain caught our eye.
A counter making bhaapa pithes.
From Gulaab Jamun to Shwarbhaaja and baked kheer malai, sweet stalls are brimming with the tastes from every corner of Bengal.
Not just sweets, visitors are also being treated to a host of options for Kolkata’s staple street foods. From chowmein to phuchka, attendees of all ages will be spoilt for choice.
The festival glows with fairy lights and festive decorations, creating the perfect yuletide atmosphere for Kolkatans.
Apart from being an incredible food affair, the carnival delights the city with its annual Christmas parade — a giant, horse-driven sledge carrying a man dressed as Santa, entertaining the crowd as it rolled through the streets. Visitors gather in awe, shaking hands with Santa as the night breeze signals the end of a year and the beginning of another.
