NEF's second edition to start Oct 26

The second edition of the four-day North East Fest (NEF) is set to start here from Oct 26 and the organisers Friday said it would be a half-yearly event and they will take it to various parts of the country.

The Ministry of Home Affairs in association with National Textile Corporation hosted a conference here to announce the details of the fest.

"Delhi is a power centre. Everything has to happen from here. Guwahati is gateway to northeast, so we did it the first time there," Mayank Jha, COO and co-founder of Basics Concepts and Marketing Pvt. Ltd., which has conceptualised the fest with support from government ministeries, told IANS.

"Now, we have planned to host the festival after every six months. It will be taken to various parts of the country and we plan to go international too," added Jha.

As many as 22 fashion designers will participate in the festival. Four bands from states like Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will entertain the audiences with rock music.

Folk dancers from eight states will participate in the event.

"Every day there will be two states' performances and in four day we will cover eight states. 300 weavers and craftsmen from northeast will be there too. There will be live weaving stalls," he added.

He said that the live demonstration will help the designer fraternity and buyers to understand how handloom works. There will be special sessions for weavers and craftsmen too.

But the foodies will have to wait for another festival as NEF will not focus on culinary aspect of the region.

"Possibly we will have another plan for culinary where we will get foof from northeast in India through war of chefs or something. But that will be different event altogether. It's still in the planning stage. Our focus is on handloom, handicraft, music, culture and people of northeast right now," said Jha.

Actress Soha Ali Khan, who is the brand ambassador of NEF, will walk the ramp for one of the designers.

Other Bollywood showstoppers include Mughda Godse, Huma Qureshi and Aditi Rao Hydari.