Pathasena stages Raktakarabi at Bally Utsav’s curtain raiser. Picture by Gopal Senapati

The fourth edition of Bally Utsav promises to be a bigger and grander affair than its earlier editions. The curtain raiser to the festival, a new addition this year, was held on December 1 and 2 at Belur Sadharan Granthagar and its adjoining area, Netaji Park. The venue was shifted from Bally Rabindra Bhaban to the library in Belur this year to encourage more participation from other areas of Bally municipality. The main festival will be held from December 29 to January 6 at its usual venues, Bally Rabindra Bhaban and Shantiram Vidyalaya.

The curtain raiser kicked off with an open film quiz on the first day followed by Sraboni Sen’s Rabindrasangeet in the evening. Both venues were buzzing with activity on the second day. A kavi sammelan had over 60 poets from Howrah, Calcutta and the 24 Parganas participating. Pankaj Saha, the former director of Doordarshan, presided over the Sunil Gangopadhyay Smarak Kavi Sammelan, where poets like Kali Krishna Guha, Utpal Basu, Rahul Purakayastha, Sushil Panja and others recited their works.

Painters from Calcutta and Howrah took part in an art workshop at the park for the Bijon Chowdhury Smarak Shilpi Karmasala. In the evening Pathasena, a theatre group from Kanchrapara, staged Raktakarabi. The Tagore play was presented in a non-proscenium setting with only a partition between the front and back stage.

“We plan to organise the festival in a larger scale this year,”said Anjan Das Majumdar, the secretary of Bally Utsav committee. The top draw of the festival will be Valmiki Pratibha, a play directed by Alokananda Roy and performed by her group of inmates from Presidency Correctional Home on the first day, December 29.