Hatipoti (Assam), Dec 7 (PTI) Captivating performances depicting Assam’s rich culture and heritage light up a small tea garden every year, as folk artistes from far and near gather to create an alternative narrative for the ailing tea industry of the state. ‘folkTea’, a two-day annual event held at the tea garden in Biswanath district, also provides a platform to struggling folk artistes of the region and beyond, chief organiser of the festival, Mrinal Talukdar, told PTI.
“We attempt to drive home the point that the tea industry must create new vistas to sustain, and entwine with the local culture to preserve the folk elements of the state,” he said.
The 2022 edition of the festival, held in the last weekend of November just before the pruning season in tea gardens, was a capsule of Assam’s folk culture with the traditional ‘Bhaona’, ‘Sattriya’, ‘Tokari Geet’, a mime play and folk song and dance performances by the Garo, Mishing, Bodo and tea tribe communities, Talukdar said.
