Darjeeling MELOtea FEST uncorked its celebration on Thursday evening with a rousing burst of music, aroma and mountain cheer, transforming the hill town into a lively confluence of culture and tea.

The festival, organised by Darjeeling police with support from the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), includes a music contest, cultural events and the famous hill marathon.

The event will conclude with the marathon on Sunday.

“The event is a community policing initiative with support from the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration to promote heritage, music, tea, entrepreneurship, tourism and other avenues in remote areas,” said Praween Prakash, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling.

MELOtea is a combination of melody and tea.

However, this year, the festival has two added features.

The festival has provided free spaces to upcoming start-ups from the region. Around 40 new start-ups by young entrepreneurs put up stalls at the programme.

“This is such a huge push for new startups,” said Eleena Sharma Pradhan from Kalimpong, who is venturing into specially curated festival sales.

The other feature is a competition for new content creators.

This year, the MELOtea FEST has lined up the following D-Series thematic events. D stands for Darjeeling.

D-Rock: An open rock music competition, both in English and Nepali, will have a whopping ₹28 lakh as prize money. This year’s star performers will include the famous Nepali singer Purna Rai; Mantra, a Darjeeling band with international repute, and another Darjeeling band, Chakra.

“More than 100 bands from across India have registered for the event,” said Prakash.

D-Run: The Darjeeling marathon that has drawn more than 4,000 runners, including international athletes, will be held on December 14.

“This year, the event gains special significance as it is being held in one of the cleanest air zones in India, with recent AQI data placing Darjeeling among the top spots,” said Prakash. The total prize award for the run is ₹10 lakh.

D-Hike: This year, an old hiking route, the Tenzing Norgay trail in the Rangaroong area in Darjeeling, was introduced. In the past editions, 16 hikes were introduced, boosting the rural economy.

D-Birdwatch: The event is being held not just to highlight Darjeeling’s exceptional birdlife but also to create sustainable livelihood opportunities, said the SP.

D-MTB: This year, a mountain biking competition designed to attract adventure enthusiasts from across India and neighbouring countries has been planned to enhance the hills’ reputation as an adventure sports destination.

“The total prize pool is ₹ 2 lakh for this event,” said Prakash.

On Thursday evening, Chowrasta was jam-packed for the Puran Rai show.