The three-day ‘Barak Festival’ with the theme NE India Adventure Sports, Art & Culture Promotion is going to be held in Silchar, Cachar, Assam from 10– 12 January 2025. This is organised by the Knowledge Resource Centre Foundation (KRC Foundation) in collaboration with the Barak-Manipur Friendship Association (BMFA).

In a media release, the details of the same were announced by Biswadeep Gupta who is the Managing Trustee of KRC Foundation and President of BMFA.

The Barak Festival is going to showcase the bonhomie of cultural richness of North East India, stated Biswadeep Gupta.

Besides the cultural integration and programs by various indigenous groups of the Northeast, one of the attractions of the program shall be the ‘Adventure Sports’. The adventure sports are being led by a team of experts from Manipur, informed the organiser.

Ng. Pobitro Singh from Manipur is the Project Director of Adventure Sports and Disaster Response Force and is leading the adventure sports movement. He said that ‘adventure sports are a very useful activity for children and youth to learn survival techniques and is designed to face various challenges of life including facing the climate disasters that we are now facing in the world.’ He further said, “We are building a ‘Disaster Response Force’ across NE India in order to face the upcoming challenges through skilled voluntarism and create awareness about climate change”.

Another attraction in the Festival will be the ‘E Games’ that will have participants from across the country as well as NE. The E-Game movement is led by Dr. David Keneingutuo Sorunuo from Nagaland who is the Project Director of E-Sports. He said ‘E-Sport tournaments have become a significant aspect of the gaming industry, offering a unique blend of competition, entertainment, and community engagement. Industry developments indicate a vibrant and dynamic future for e-sports, with numerous opportunities for players and fans alike’.

The E Games ‘school level’ competition will be led by Krish Gupta, a student of class IX of Delhi Public School Silchar.

The festival is divided into three parts where there will be an exhibition, participation and competition on art & culture; and adventure sports /E-Sports from NE states. Certificates, mementoes, medals and cash prizes will be awarded in various categories. 

As river ‘Barak’ originates from Liyai Kullen Village in Manipur’s Senapati district, we propose to showcase the rich cultural diversity that prevails along the route of river Barak and focus on the State of Manipur in this edition of the festival with the theme ‘NE India Adventure Sports, Art & Culture Promotion’, informed Biswadeep Gupta.

The Festival will also concentrate on the five different campaigns that KRC Foundation is already undertaking, namely, Study on Significance of Barak River- ‘River Dialogue Conclave’; Water Conservation and Save River Campaign; Let’s Give Campaign: Book Bank and 3R: Reduce |Reuse | Recycle; Connecting the unconnected (5E for Success); and Disaster Response Force.

These five different campaigns will be the highlight of the ‘Barak Festival’ that shall continue across NE India. 

The festival will also witness a footfall of school to University students from NE India states, youths, VIPs, and trade delegations from Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and West Bengal are expected; Participants in Adventure Sports Competition and Cultural festival across NE India, and from West Bengal.

An Online Global Competition on Rabindranath, Nazrul and Sukanta is also being planned that will go ‘online’ this Diwali/Kali Puja. The Barak Festival will also have a Film Festival open to nominations from across the globe. It will also host Business events such as Policy Conclave: Barak Valley and Act East Policy; Barak River Conclave: Significance of River Barak; 5E for Success (School-to-Campus-to-Corporate); Buyer-Seller-Investor Meet. Delegates from other parts of the country and abroad including Foreign Envoys in India and NRIs from Barak/Manipur/West Bengal are expected to participate.

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