PORT CITY GEARS UP FOR PAHELA BAISHAKH

To bid farewell to the old year and to celebrate the arrival of the first day of the Bangla calendar on “Pahela Baishakh”, preparations are on in full swing in the port city.

To mark Chaitra Sankranti (the last day of the Bangla calendar year) and Pahela Baishakh, thousands of city dwellers will swarm like other years at DC Hill premises, CRB Shirishtola, Fine Arts Institute premises and District Shilpakala Academy premises in the city, expect organisers.

Like previous years, Sammilito Pahela Baishakh Udjapan Parishad will organise a two-day programme at DC Hill premises where audiences get an opportunity to enjoy the programme from a hill-slope gallery in a natural ambience.

Artistes of prominent cultural organisations to perform at DC Hill premise are now busy rehearsing to take part in the 39-year old conventional programme, said Ahmed Ikbal Haider, convener of the Parishad.

Haider, who is also the artistic director of Theatre Institute, Chittagong (TIC) informed that the New Year celebration programmes would begin at 6 am with a raga-based choral rendition led by Ustad Swarnamoy Chakraborty while on the previous day, the year's farewell programme would begin at 3:30pm at DC Hill's Nazrul Square venue.

Some 45 cultural troupes from the city and other districts would perform at the programme, Haider added. Writer Hari Shankar Jaladas and artiste Shila Momen will be conferred honours at the programme.

The New Year celebration programme at the premises of Fine Arts Institute of Chittagong University starts with choral performance “Gane Gane Borshoboron” by the artistes of Raktakarabi.

This year, Songsaptak, a fine arts-based organsiation led by students of 45th batch of the institute, is organising the programme.

Students were seen busy making dummy structures of scarecrows, fish, tigers and elephants for Mongol Jobhajatra Institute of Fine Arts of CU at the  city's Chatteshawri Road,

Zihan Karim, assistant professor of the institute, said following a performance of Raktakarabi, the Mongol Shobhajatra will start at 6:30am from the institute premises and it will parade the important thoroughfares with the participation of city dwellers.

To make masks of different birds and animals and replicas for the shobhajatra, students and teachers of the institute have been working in shifts for two weeks, he added.

Shafikul Islam, the coordinator of Songsaptak, said the New Year celebration programme will feature different folk sports like Hadudu, cockfight, releasing paper lanterns and classical music evening like previous years.

Displaying folk culture like, pala gaan and indigenous dance, a programme will be held at District Shilpakala Academy premises on the day. Troupes from the city and other parts of the country will participatet in the programme. Fulki, a reputed educational institute for children, will also host a separate programme on the occasion.