Bhubaneswar, April 1: The city is all set to host thousands of folk artistes for the fifth state-level folk dance and music festival that begins at Utkal Mandap here tomorrow.
Around 1,500 folk artistes from 30 districts of the state will perform at the three-day festival to be inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The first day will include performances by folk artistes from various parts of the state. Jodi sankha of Ganjam, paika akhada of Khurda, ghumura of Kalahandi, dhangda dhangdi dance of Kandhamal and Chhau of Mayurbhanj will be staged by exponents of each form.
Puppetry, dandanacha, ghodanacha, rasarkeli, Mughal tamasa, gotipua, dhemsa, ektara, tribal nagra dance, laudi dance, conch blowing and dalkhai will also take centre stage as the event progresses.
In another development, the government has taken steps to promote folk artistes from the state. The culture department has decided to form the Nagar Kala Sanskruti Sangha on the lines of the Zilla Kala Sanskruti Sangha and Block Kala Sanskruti Sangha. These formations would assist folk artistes living in urban areas of the state to find livelihood and preserve their art forms.
The chief minister had launched the block and district level bodies to promote traditional artistes and folk art forms on the occasion of Utkal Divas in 2011.
The bodies would be set up in areas under urban local bodies that have a population of more than one lakh.
“We have earmarked around eight such places across the state,” said culture director Sushil Das. A revolving fund to the tune of Rs 3 lakh would be created at each Nagar Kala Sanskruti Sangha.
A Rajya Kala Sanskruti Sangha will also be formed at the state level. “It would be at the head of the formation and will be responsible for the regulation and evaluation of all the affiliate bodies. The culture minister would act as the ex-officio president of the institution,” said Das.
Steps will also be taken to expedite enrolment of a greater number of artists under the Nagar Kala Sanskruti Sangha, Zilla Kala Sanskruti Sangha and the Block Kala Sanskruti Sangha. At present, around 83,000 artistes have enrolled so far.
“Our estimate shows that there are more than 3 lakh folk artists in the state. Many of them are practicing the art forms in the urban areas. We will conduct a survey to ensure that more and more artistes enroll to avail the benefits of government schemes for them,” they said.