Kathmandu, Apr. 25

The India-Nepal Crafts Festival will be organized in the capital from April 27 to May 2, 2012.

President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav will inaugurate the festival, being organized by the South India Foundation (SAF), in collaboration with the Embassy of India and Nepal Tourism Board, the organiser told a press meet held on Wednesday to inform about the festival.

The festival which will be held at the Nepal Academy premises is aimed at boosting bilateral relation of two neighbouring countries in the arts and crafts sector, the organiser added.

There will be various crafts demonstration, display of craft products by man crafts persons and artisan from various parts of India and Nepal.

The crafts from the Indian state of Goa will be the central attraction of the festival, where about 25 craft experts from Goa will also be showcasing their craftsmanship. Apart from this, the Nepal crafts will be also exhibited in the festival, said Rahul Verma, secretary general of SAF.

The festival will showcase the Goan tourism in full strength and will explore tourism potential between Nepal and Goa, Verma said.

Nepal has very rich crafts tradition and this festival will provide a platform to the artisans from Nepal and India to exchange idea and explore larger co-operation, he added.

"India-Nepal Crafts Festival is looking at the opportunity to tie up effective and comprehensive collaboration between Nepal and Indian for a larger participation in the field of arts and crafts," said Apoorva Srivastava, First Secretary, Press and Information at Indian Embassy.

"About 15 to 20 stalls of Nepali crafts will be put on show under the active leadership of the Federation of the Nepalese Handicrafts Association," Srivastava added.

Likewise, crafts from other Indian states will also be showcased in the festival. "There will be about 20 stalls at the festival from states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orisha, Punjab, and Bengal," she said.

The organiser of the event said that visitors could enjoy free entry to the festival and could purchase items of their choices.

Meanwhile, the main organiser of the festival, South India Foundation (SAF) is a voluntary development organization formed in 1991 to strengthen people to people contact in South Asia.

SAF works for all round development of artisans at the grass root level, works with various state governments of India and policy makers, thus advocating the policy that enhances the livelihood of the underprivileged at the policy level. It also works with various organization of South Asia for enhancing bilateral relations at the regional level, the organiser added.