Nepali women attend the celebration of Fewa New Year Festival in Pokhara city, Nepal.The 14th Fewa New Year Festival 2074.

The 14th Fewa New Year Festival 2074 to kick off on Tuesday

With the time to change the calendar, the city of lakes in Nepal, Pokhara has planned to kick off this change with a grand festival, the 14th Fewa New Year Festival 2074.

The festival is going to be held at Komagane Park- Lakeside of Pokhara, on Tuesday. The five-day festival is organized by Paschimanchal Hotel Association, an umbrella body of hotel operators of western Nepal and is expected to be attended by around 40,000 people from across the country.

The 14th Fewa New Year Festival 2074 has been organized with the theme “Tourism, Culture and Food.” The event, being held on the bank of the Fewa Lake, will feature many cultural shows, pop concerts, and stalls. There will be around 14 food stalls and 45 commercial stalls at the event venue.

Most of the food stalls at the festival are being set up by hotels and restaurants from Lakeside. However, locals from nearby villages will also be selling their cuisines. On the other hand, commercial stalls will showcase agricultural commodities and goods promoting Nepali culture.

One of the major attractions of the festival is boat racing. It will be held on the second day of the event. The organizers will also host a 2 km tourist race titled “Run for Fun”. Musical concerts, folk dance shows, and comedy acts will be performed at the event to keep the visitors entertained. There will also be a children’s section at the park where they can play games and enjoy rides.

“We hope these attractions will make the festival grand,” said Bikal Tulachan, coordinator of the festival organizing committee. “We are doing this to promote the culture, cuisine and tourism of our country.”

According to Tulachan, one of the major objectives of the festival is to promote domestic tourism.

The organizers believe that further promotion of domestic tourism can increase the income of the tourism industry. Hotels in Pokhara have already started floating economic travel packages for domestic and foreign tourists.

The organizers also want to use this festival as a platform to promote ‘Save Fewa’ campaign, a drive aimed at protecting Fewa Lake and its surroundings which are becoming more polluted every year. A certain portion of the funds generated from sales of festival tickets, according to organizers, will be handed over to the Fewa Conservation Trust as in the previous years.

Each festival ticket is priced at Rs. 50. Organizers said that Rs. 5 from sales of every ticket will be given to the Trust. The money raised by the Trust was previously used to clean Basundhara Park in Lakeside and operate water purification programs in Fewa Lake.

“We are serious about protecting the environment around the lake,” said Tulachan. “It is very important to conserve both the lake and culture and environment around it.”

The 14th Fewa New Year Festival 2074 is co-sponsored by the Nepal Tourism Board, Gorkha Brewery, the World Wildlife Fund, Nepal Telecom, and Pokhara Lekhnath Municipality.

 

Reference: Kathmandu Post