Visitors at a textile exhibition in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 26: The major Oriya festivals are just round the corner, and shopping of garments and other gifts to be given to relatives has already begun in the city. The advent of a number of shopping expos organised by traders from other states appears to have made shopping easy for residents of the capital.

Offering alternatives in textiles with products of different price ranges, the expos showcase garments of all styles and fabrics. The Texpo, which is on at Kalpana Square, has attractive kurtis and traditional short tops for women, while stylish T-shirts for men are also available here. Western tops and embellished as well as plain leggings, skirts, jeans and trousers are also available for girls at the expo. Men can also look for semi-formal and casual shirts with half sleeves. A wide range of collection of saris is being showcased at the textile fair.

“Shopping for Raja begins much before the festival as people gift garments to relatives. We thus offer low-priced cotton, lycra, silk and polyester garments at our expo,” said Soumil, a trader at the expo organised by Garia Consumers’ Society from Calcutta. This expo also offers imitation jewellery for women. But the main attraction is a gorgeous collection of costumes for deities, which has been created in attractive forms.

The annual Mega Handloom and Handicraft Expo, which is on at Shahid Nagar, offers textiles from places such as Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and so on.

It also offers a wide variety in accessories such as jewellery, stoles and footwear. While shoes for both men and women are available here at affordable prices, stylish sandals and jutis for women also come easy on pockets at this fair.

“Young college girls buy a lot of garments and footwear during Raja, while married women go for sarees during Sabitri Osa. It is, thus, business time for us, and we gain good profits at this time of the year in Bhubaneswar,” says Munna, a shopkeeper from Delhi at this expo.

Visitors to these fairs are also glad to find all the items that they were looking for under one umbrella and at a suitable price range.

“For both Raja and Sabitri, we need to gift new clothes to women and kids in our families. Here we find variety and affordable prices,” said Swarnamayee Patnaik, a homemaker.

“I drop in at these fairs held at this time of the year as they offer footwear of the latest styles. The best part is, however, that we have a choice to bargain at these expos,” feels Renuka Nayak, a college student. Both the expos, which began earlier this month, will be running till the Raja festival, which falls on June 15.