.FEST brings back Patha Utsav to Janpath

Bhubaneswar: “Patha Utsav”, temple city’s popular cultural street extravaganza is back again on the streets of Janpath.

Initiated by Bhubaneswar Development Association (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Odisha Tourism, the spirit of the street festival promoting non-motorised transport and healthy living was rebooted on Sunday as part of .FEST (Bhubaneswar City Festival).

The central theme of today’s PathaUtsav was hockey as the street event is being held during the Odisha Men’s World Cup Hockey-2018.

 More than 20,000 enthusiastic early risers hit the streets of Janpath to partake in PathaUtsav which was held in the morning. With the theme of hockey the students from Sports Hostel, Kalinga Stadium displayed their skills of hockey on Janpath and the crowd cheered the young players.

Itishri Dixit, a social worker and singer with a long-standing association with PathaUtsav did a beautiful “Rangoli’’ on hockey theme and her team created beautiful images on Janpath depicting the Odisha Men’s World Cup Hockey-2018 cup and also several key players.

The two stages on each end of Janpath-Master Canteen Square and Ram Mandir Square-also had performances by city-based groups and especially Ama Kalakara Parivar. The singers and DJs also promoted the .FEST through their performances and songs. Jai Odisha,a group of young social workers not only organised street hockey, but also held a quiz programme among the visitors and especially kids.

The band of Sai International School performed on Stage I near Master Canteen and there were stalls on Mo Bus and Mo Cycle by the Capital Region Urban Transport to popularise mass trasnsport and cycling for a greener city. There were also health camps by AYUSH Department, Yoga sessions and Zumba by Stay Fit organisation. Children and adults all participated in the Zumba dance programme.

For the entire session of the PathaUtsav, the roads were closed for motorized vehicles as Janpath saw thousands of people assemble. As usual with ‘ParthaUtsav’, the prime road was converted into an open-air arena for outdoor activities.

Local junior hockey team members utilized the stretch for their routine practice and warm up sessions, while others utilized this road for playing football, badminton and roller-skating.The event also provided free health check up booths for all as well as an exhibition of “khadi’’ products, promoting its use in our daily lives.

Patha Utsav is the city’s initiative to connect its citizens and neighbourhoods and the response to its re-launch was incredible. It is scheduled to take place on December 9 and 16.