Festivals and Cultural Resurgence in Cities
Globally, festivals around cultural symbols, historic events, annual public rituals have emerged as city branding strategies to boost tourism and attract investments in various economic sectors.
Festivals like the annual public ritual, the Alarde, in Fuenterrsbis, a town in Basque province of Spain, the exotic rituals of the Toraja people living in the central highland of the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia show how government departments have appropriated local cultures to create revenue models for the city.
The recent tide of festivals in India especially in second tier cities like Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur on the lines of megacities like Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai has brought about a cultural resurgence.
The months of January and February remain blocked for citizens and their adulation for music, dance, art, cinema, books and literature and all things arty and cultural. These are the months when most cities in India are busy with the celebration of many festivals, both old and new, some religious while others are mostly secular, cultural and recent additions.
In my current city Lucknow I can compile a long list: Kabir festival, Sanatkada Lucknow Festival, Lucknow Mahotsav, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Divas just to name a few. These are the prominent ones in addition to numerous dance and mini theatre festivals that have kept the people of Lucknow up, awake and cheerful throughout the long Northern winters.
Of all these, the Lucknow Mahotsav is one that everyone awaits eagerly. The Mahotsav is a weeklong affair and the first three days this year are dedicated to the UP Divas. The celebrations have already begun on the 24 January and continue till the 2nd of February 2018. The celebrations include a car rally, numerous stage performances, and include around 330 commercial stalls, 71 pavilions, 20 kiosks and 45 food stalls at the Awadh Ship Gram, the new cultural center of Lucknow.
This is also the time the city of Jaipur celebrates its annual Literature Festival. Calcutta, the city where I grew up hosts a number of expos, exhibitions and the much talked about Kolkata Book Fair and the International Film Festival around the same time.
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