Pokhara's Lakeside to host mini street festival on World Tourism Day

Pokhara's main tourist strip, Lakeside, will host a mini street festival on the evening of 27 September, which falls on Asoj 11, to mark World Tourism Day. The Restaurant and Bar Association (REBAN) Pokhara told a press conference that the festival will include cultural, entertainment and tourism promotion programmes, Ratopati reports. According to the organisers, the festival will give special priority to Pokhara's original culture, local art, food and hospitality. REBAN chair Basanta Gautam said the tourism sector was going through a difficult period and the event was intended to spread a positive message that Nepal is open and that Pokhara is ready to welcome tourists. Gautam said the festival would follow this year's World Tourism Day theme on the digital agenda and artificial intelligence in reimagining tourism, and would help attract both domestic and foreign visitors. He said the event would present Pokhara's tourism businesses, art, culture and food to visitors and signal that the city's destinations are open and safe. The main opening ceremony will be held in the Ammat area, after which cultural dances and entertainment will be staged on the main platform. Gandharva singing will be performed at a rest platform near the centre point junction, and cultural dances and other programmes will run in the stretch between Lakeside streets 4 and 5, REBAN Pokhara said. Pokhara Tourism Council chair Hari Bhujel said he believed the festival would help revive tourism activity in Pokhara, which had slowed for some time. He noted that tourist activity had begun to pick up after Fly Dubai started international flights from Pokhara, saying the air link had opened new possibilities. REBAN Pokhara general secretary Birendra Sherchan said the event, timed for the start of the main tourist season, would signal that Pokhara is ready to receive visitors.