Buskers to be high lights of the X-Mas celebrations

Buskers (street singers) will be the highlight of the state government organised 'Christmas Festival' this year at the iconic Park Street in the city, a top official said Tuesday.

The 'Christmas Festival' will also take place in seven other places - Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong in the Hills as well as in the churches of Jalpaiguri, Chandernagore and Krishnanagar in the plains, the principal secretary to the departments of home and tourism affairs, Atri Bhattacharya told a press meet here.

There will be illumination of churches at the seven locations from December 21 to January 1 and cultural programmes at the over 200-year old Sacred Heart Church at the erstwhile French colony of Chandernagore, about 35 km from here, from December 26 to December 28.

The buskers, who are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the West, will sing popular Christmas numbers as well as Hindi and Bengali chartbusters at the street crossings along Park Street for the first time during the festival from 4 pm to 10 pm on December 25 when the footfall of the revellers is the highest, he said.

There would be four buskers from the city's rich pool of musical talents.

Besides there will be carol singing by church choirs and individuals and performances by Kolkata Police Band during the cultural function.

Elaborating on the festival arrangements Bhattacharya said 36 food stalls serving cuisine from different corners of the country, will come up along Park Street during the period.

Renowned artistes will perform on the open stage at Allen Park off Park Street from December 21 to December 30 excepting on December 25 when all activities will shift to adjacent Park Street area, he said.

The 'Christmas Festival' will be organised by the state tourism ministry and supported by the information and cultural affairs ministry and Kolkata Municipal Corporation and will be held between December 21 and December 30.

The festival will be inaugurated on December 21 by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"To my knowledge there is no Christmas celebration on such a large scale in any other Indian city," Bhattacharya said.

"We hope the Christmas festival will lead to higher footfall of foreign tourists in the city. They can see for themselves how Kolkata has made Christmas celebrations an important day in the calendar of festivals with huge participation of people and illuminations typical of the city," Michael Shane Calvert, the Anglo-Indian community MLA in the state assembly, said.

Calvert is involved in the organising of the festival as a representative of the community.