Panaji: December 31, 2016 ….. Directorate of Art and Culture will be presenting a beautiful mixture of folk forms and handicrafts from all over India at the yearly Lokotsav-2017 (folk festival) which will be organized from January 6 to January 15, 2017. The Festival will be held at Darya Sangam, Kala Academy. Around 500 folk artists will be presenting various folk dances and music of their states and also 600 craft persons will be displaying their handicraft items during the festival.
This folk festival is organised by the Directorate Art and Culture, Govt. of Goa every year in joint collaboration of West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur, Kala Academy, Goa, Sports Authority of Goa, Corporation of the City of Panaji, South Cetnral Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur, Department of Art and Culture, Jarkhand and other agencies in order to promote the folk culture and handicrafts from different states and also from Goa. A perfect platform is given to the artisans to showcase and sale their crafts. This is 18th year of Lokotsav in Goa and day by day its popularity is increasing rapidly. The folk artists and craftsman from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, Manipur, Haryana, West Bengal, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Tripura including Goa are invited to present the folklore of their respective states in Lokotsav. Jharkhand State folk dancers will perform on January 8, on the occasion of “Jharkhand Divas”. Also the folk dancers from International Group of Germany will be performing on the concluding day i.e. on January 15.
Various Cultural Programmes will be conducted in Dinanath Mageshkar Kala Mandir and Open Air Auditorium from January 7 to 14 every day from 6.00 p.m onwards. School children from 4 different schools will also present various cultural programmes.
Various kinds of workshops i.e. workshop on (clay work), jute work, (embroidery). Adek work and traditional cooking by I.F.B ltd will be organised at Kala Academy Campus from January 7 to 15 from 2.30 p.m to 5.30 p.m.
The stall will be allotted to applicants on January 4 and 5 from 10.00 a.m to 5.00 p.m.
The art lovers, tourists and general public are invited for the inaugural function of the festival on January 6, 2017 at 6.30 p.m at Darya Sangam, Kala Academy, and thereafter for the Cultural programme from 6.30 p.m to 9.30 p.m and to visit the exhibition cum programme from January 6 to 15 from 10.00 a.m to10.00 p.m
