Capital relishing its culture curry

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games has been an occasion for the capital to seduce visitors with the country's soft power. And in the process, Delhiites have joined the celebrations in large numbers, in stark contrast with the empty stadiums. The evenings, especially, have come alive with foreign tourists turning up in large numbers for plays, concerts, dance performances and film festivals at various venues across the city.
Be it the Qutub Minar complex in south Delhi or Dilli Haat Pitampura in north Delhi, hundreds of people are swarming the venues daily.It's no different at the centrally-located Kamani Auditorium, Connaught Place and Teen Murti, where long queues can be seen for musicals, plays, food festivals and exhibitions.
With some of the venues reporting record footfalls, organizers are left scrambling to make last-minute arrangements to accommodate the crowds. Sample this: Till last year, Dilli Haat at INA Market had witnessed a maximum of 7,000 visitors on a single day. But this Sunday, over twice that number of people landed up to be part of Festival of India. According to Delhi Tourism, a staggering 17,000 people were in attendance.
A well-known venue for classical music recitals, Kamani Auditorium, has also received more visitors this season than what organisers were prepared for. "Ultimately, we had to put up a screen outside for those people who couldn't manage to get in as they refused to budge,'' said an official from the tourism department. At Qutub Festival, the seating capacity for 4,000 visitors was recently increased to 5,000 considering the overwhelming response. "The demand was so high that we had to print additional passes. Despite that, there were hundreds of spectators who were standing during some of the shows,'' said the official.
Delhi Tourism MD Reena Ray said the idea behind `Delhi Celebrates' was to involve as many people as possible and bring the entire city together. "And for our foreign visitors, we wanted to ensure they go back thinking that there's so much to see in Delhi that they would have to come back,'' said Ray.
But in a new and encouraging trend, central Delhi is not the only hotspot for the festivities. "Each part of Delhi has its own USP. Dilli Haat in Pitampura is usually visited only by locals. We wanted to attract more people and hence made it the only venue for the international cuisine festival and international performances. Similarly, you can get a hands-on experience of pottery and other traditional crafts, and attend the film festival only at Centre of Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) at Dwarka. No other venue offers that,'' added Ray.
Till now, according to tourism officials, most foreign visitors usually treated Delhi as a stopover. But as the capital was hosting the Games, the cultural fiesta was organized not just to get them to see the city's heritage but also to shop here and taste the choicest delicacies. Each cultural event that is part of Delhi Celebrates has something unique to offer and is accessible by the Metro. "The festival has been a success because it caters to every age-group and offers variety. From the Ramayana presentation at Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra to the Youth Festival that showcases young talent from the city, all events have proved to be crowd-pullers,'' said Ray.