A boy sneaks up on a pair of resting ducks on the banks of the Rellie during the picnic. Picture byChinlop Fudong Lepcha

Rellie, Dec. 27: Fun and feasting in the glorious glades of Rellie, and all of it on the house, marked the fourth day of the winter fest.

The organisers even threw in a cultural dance session and a lavish spread of local culinary delicacies for lunch to give the tourists an up-close and personal feel of the place on the banks of the Rellie.

The dishes included kinema (fermented beans) and gundruk (fermented and dried mustard leaves).

The evening?s special highlight at Mela ground, apart from performance of a jazz band from Calcutta, was a Bhangra number by a group from Punjab.

Bimal Pradhan, one of the coordinators of the fest, said: ?Places like Rellie should be promoted so tourists can enjoy a weekend relaxing and soaking the beauty of the area. That is what we aimed to achieve by organising the picnic here today.?

The cultural show included dances like Chabrung of the Subba community, which is performed at marriages or other happy occasions.

Another local initiative that scored well with the visitors was the ?swimming pool? constructed by sealing off a portion of the river.

A Rellie resident, 75-year-old K.N. Pradhan, said: ?This is the second time in as many years that our area has featured on the programme list of the winter fest.?

?The initiative, apart from promoting Rellie as an all-season destination, helped open our eyes to the prospect of tourism and how it could benefit the local economy,? he added.

Twenty-seven-year-old Kyoko Seiki, a tourist from Japan, said: ?This is my first visit to Kalimpong and I found there are lovely places here. The fest is a great idea and the initiative commendable. I feel very lucky that I was here and also a part of it.?

Seiki was one of the tourists who had opted for the guided tour in and around the town yesterday.

Complementing the initiative taken by the residents to organise the fest, 61-year-old M.K. Newar from Calcutta said: ?This is a great event and will put the subdivision on the tourism map in the long run.?

WHAT?S ON

• Programme on Lepcha heritage: 9am-2pm

• Mangar samaj: 3pm-4pm

• Raj samaj: 4pm-5pm

• Fashion show: 5pm-7pm

• Magnum opus: 7pm- 8.30pm