The Bidhannagar Mela (Utsav) will take place from February 21, with the opening scheduled for the day before. While the news is a welcome one for residents as the fair is regarded as the biggest local event on the township’s cultural calendar, the timing is a cause for anxiety for the organisers, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
“The Board exams are on. So we are a bit unsure about footfall,” admitted Rajesh Chirimar, the secretary of the Bidhannagar Mela (Utsav)2024 committee.
While Madhyamik has just got over, the ISC exams are on and the Higher Secondary examination will start from Friday. The CBSE examinations are also starting around the same time.
Keeping the sound restrictions during Board examinations in mind, the organisers have decided to create an enclosed pavilion in place of a stage that is left open on three sides. The stage hosts cultural programmes every evening.
The Mela is usually held in December and covers the year-end week. But the Book Fair was brought forward to avoid a clash with the Board examinations which are happening much earlier this year as a domino effect of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “We would not have got the ground before December 11 and would have had to dismantle the stalls by December 26 for the Book Fair to start on time. We need to run the fair for at least 21 days for the stall keepers to break even. So we had decided to postpone it,” said Chirimar, a mayoral council member.
There will be 620 stalls and online bookings are underway. There will be no kiosks by the stage as it will be covered. Neither will tables be allowed to be put up by individual vendors in front of stalls. “Instead, we have demarcated two dala zones, which should accommodate 88 dalas,”Chirimar said.
The organisers are planning to increase the amusement quotient to pull in the crowd. “We will have a bullock cart to create a rural fair ambiance,” he said. A fish aquarium might also be there.
The fair will continue till March 12.