After a hugely successful inaugural last year, the second edition of the North East Festival kicked off in great style in a brand new avatar in the capital. Being held from 7th to 10th November 2014 at IGNCA, Janpath, New Delhi, this year’s edition of the festival will be focused on the various business and investment opportunities that the region presents, apart from showcasing the multifarious culture and rich heritage of the North Eastern states.

North East Festival is organised by the reputed socio-cultural trust, Trend MMS, in association with North East Community of Delhi, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Ministry of DoNER, Govt. of India and IGNCA.

The chief guests for the evening – Gen. Dr. VK Singh, Union Minister (Independent Charge), DoNER, MoS (External Affairs and Overseas Affairs), Govt. of India and Mr. Kiren Rjiju, Hon’ble MoS (Home), Govt. of India along with MC Mary Kom, Brand Ambassador of the North East Festival inaugurated the four day extravaganza. In the inaugural session, medal winning athletes from the North East who brought glory for the country in the recent CWG & Asian Games,  including names like Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, L. Devendro Singh, Dipa Karmakar, etc. were felicitated under NEC Chairman’s Sports Awards for Excellence in International & National Sports meets.

Adding colour to the proceedings, artistes from various states of North East India along with Sangeet Natak Akademi presented a range of ethnic dances from the region. Sumptuous cuisines carrying fragrances of the North East were in abundance in the various food stalls along with exquisite handicrafts and ethnic handlooms from the region. Various music bands like from NER like Guwahati Lights, Akhu - Imphal Talkies, Vinyl Record, Soulmate, The Local Train etc. performed all through the day much to the delight of the onlookers.

During the morning session, a discussion was held on ‘Alienation feeling in the North East & Implementation of Bezbaruah Committee Recommendation’ with the help of North East Community of Delhi.

The “North East Festival”, has become a brand which is synonymous with the unification of the various stakeholders of North East under one dynamic platform.

Speaking about this year’s edition, Shyamkanu Mahanta, Organiser in Chief, North East Festival said, “This year, the theme is ‘Insurgence to Resurgence’ with focus on highlighting the positive stories of entrepreneurship and development.  The objective is to present people of Delhi to understand North East India in one platform and to encourage tourism to the North East Region. This year our focus is on what we could contribute to our region beyond the festival, be it skill & entrepreneurship development or investment and tourism promotion.”

In addition, there would be discussions on critical issues of national and regional importance with reference to the North East Region. A seminar is being organised in association with Ministry of IT, Govt of India with investors to explore investments in the ITES sector in the North East, to attract investments in the ITES Sector. A session on education is expected to be chaired by Union HRD Minister, which would discuss about ways of introducing subjects from North East in school and college curriculums to create awareness about the region.

Around 30 bands will perform throughout all the four days for the festival.  Some of them are Guwahati Lights, Akhu - Imphal Talkies, Yesterdrive, Chethuwang, Vinyl Record, Soulmate and The Local Train, Foot Wings, Stuti Choudhury, Minutes of Decay and Mayukh Hazarika, Tetseo Sisters, Guru Rewben Mashangva, Frisky Pints, Bluestring Parth, Zubeen Garg, Jeli Kayi, Emielyn D. Das, Aboriginals Project, Brahmaputra Boys, Late Too Soon, Simanta Sekhar, Girish & the Chronicles, MSonic and Bollywood singer Ash King.