Jharkhand will tell the folk stories of different states in November.

It is gearing up to host a five-day folk theatre festival, Lok Rang, in Ranchi, where as many as 250 artistes from 10 states will showcase an assortment of plays depicting their rich culture.

The festival will be jointly organised by the state art and culture department in collaboration with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), Calcutta. “We had elaborate discussions with EZCC to chalk out plans for the festival,” said Kamal Bose, a member of EZCC, Calcutta, who is representing Jharkhand. He returned a few days ago after attending a meeting in Calcutta on August 21.

Bose added that they had decided to invite only well-known folk theatre groups from 10 states. From each state, a total number of 25 artistes will participate. “Each theatre group will stage two plays for three hours. We had organised a similar type of theatre festival at Gurunanak Higher Secondary School’s auditorium in 2006, which was a runway success. Theatre lovers had appreciated our efforts,” he said.

Artistes from Odisha, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya will be participating at the festival along with those from neighbouring Bengal and Chhattisgarh and of course, host Jharkhand.

However, the venue is yet to be finalised. “We have three places in mind,” Bose said.

Vijay Paswan, the art and culture department’s assistant director, said: “The theatre festival will help revive the dying folk art.”

The entire expenses will be borne by the art and cultural department and EZCC.