The heart of Bidhannagar's winter calendar, the Bidhannagar Mela (Utsav), concluded on Wednesday with a concert by minister Babul Supriyo.
The fair was back at the Central Park Mela Ground after a two-year interval due to the pandemic.
The shops from outside Bengal, like the stalls from Kashmir, as well as the ones from outside India, like Egypt, Bangladesh, Turkey and Afghanistan were crowded with customers who had missed their products in the last two years. The crowd especially on January 1 was huge, as many people wanted to celebrate the new year with new purchases as well as an outing at the fair.
Egypt stall owner, Kamal Anwar, who had travelled all the way from Cairo, was glad to be back as this has been a tradition for him for the last 20 years. "We have mostly the same customers coming every year because there is a section of people which understands and admires our art and appreciate the Egyptian culture. This prevents us from losing business even after the Covid break. Rather it also brings us new customers and helps us grow," he smiled.
The food stalls and rides were filled with teenagers and young adults who were enjoying the mela facilities after two long years. Tejeshwi Khetan, a resident of Lake Town, who was visiting Bidhannagar Mela with her friends, shared her experience. "I love everything about fairs like the lights, the stalls, the food... Everything is just so vibrant here. I feel very refreshed after visiting a fair." She had last visited a fair four years ago with family. "I was then very scared of rides. Nor did I visit too the stalls that time. But now after Covid, when I came here, it was a great experience," she added.
The stalls from Bangladesh exhibited some magnificent saris while the Afghanistan stall led the way with dry fruits. The Turkey stall was the most crowded among the international stalls throughout the fair days as it showcased numerous eye-catching products.
"We are happy with the response. The crowd was good. Especially over the last few days we have had great footfall. Most international shops have also returned," said an official. But he did not have an answer when asked why the dog show, a popular event held on the sidelines of the fair, was cancelled. The event had been scheduled on January 1 but was called off.
Not every seller is going back with a smile. Shamsh Anjum, the owner of KBC Garments, was pretty upset about sales this season. "Covid didn't affect our business that much because people needed blazers and coats even then. But somehow this time, the footfall to sales ratio is less than before. We expected more on coming back after two long years," he said.
"We are not satisfied with sales. Our shop position is not good. We got a spot in the back lane where footfall is very low. As this is our first time at the fair, we had no idea about good position. The crowd was good, but sale was limited," said the owner of Abhinandan, a sari shop from Barrackpore.
"This is our first time at this fair. We sell all hand-made items. It is a one-and-a-half year old organisation. Sale was not up to the mark . But we were not expecting much, and we set up the stall for publicity purpose," said a spokesperson at Seejh, which has a shop in CF Block.
"We have been coming to the fair for the last 12 years but this year the market is very bad. Previously the business I did in one shop this time I could not even match from two shops. My regular customers saved me to some extent," said Rabin Dey of Trinayani Chitrakala, adding that this year his most popular items were junk and Korean jewellery.
Pictures by Basudeb Behe