Namchi (south Sikkim), Oct. 13: Weather played god today as around 10,000 people assembled here, the South district headquarters, to participate in the inaugural day celebrations of the weeklong Namchi Mahotsav.

The sun shone brightly while cultural programmes, a traditional food festival, sales and exhibitions and a fashion show marked Day One of the mahotsav.

Chief minister Pawan Chamling inaugurated the festival in the morning and visited the food stalls and the exhibition centre late in the afternoon. A cultural programme by Hamro Parivar, a Gangtok-based NGO, was also held at the Namchi Bazar venue.

The main venue for the mahotsav, including the handicraft and handloom exhibition and food stalls, serving local delicacies, is the Bhaichung Stadium in Alley. Three traditional houses had been set up there to depict the lifestyle of the Lepchas, Bhutias and the Nepalis.

The mahotsav, organised by the district administration with the support from the local panchayats and the people, is being partly funded by the Centre and the state tourism department.

Commissioner-cum-secretary of the state tourism department Alok Shrivastava said one of the objectives of holding the mahotsav in Namchi was to ?decongest Gangtok and spread tourism activities to the districts?.

He said plans were afoot to organise such festivals in the West and North district headquarters as well.

The chief minister, in his address, said Namchi would be a major tourist destination in another five years. He also said his government was focussing on rural tourism and had initiated plans for each of the 32 constituencies to have a major tourist spot.

D. D. Harris and J. S. Tuli, two Canadian tourists who were at the festival, said they were lucky to have got a chance to witness the mahotsav. ?We were here by chance and have decided to come back for a longer period,? Tulisaid.

District collector (South) Vishal Chauhan who is also the chairman of the organising committee described the mahotsav as a people?s fair.