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World Orange Festival, India’s 1st festival in support of Orange Cultivators, receives overwhelming response

Media Brief

Nagpur, January 16, 2018

The first of its kind ‘World Orange Festival 2017’ whipped up a storm in Nagpur, The Orange Capital of India. The three day cultural extravaganza was a sensory treat of sorts with delightful cooking sessions, knowledge summits, musical performances and overall an experience par excellence thus witnessing a record turnout of over 100,000 people combining 3 days at Nagpur. Supported by Government of Maharashtra, the festival was hosted by MTDC and presented by UPL & Bajaj electricals with associate partners as Minute Maid, Camlin, IOC, Integriti, JJ College of Arts and host of other partners.

With an objective to give an impetus to the local farming community and boost the identity of ‘The Orange City’ on the world map, the festival brought together the farming community to empower them with global perspectives and technological know-hows. More than 10500+ Orange cultivators in Nagpur witnessed Orange exhibitions, best orange contests, expert talks, interaction with scientists and lots more. The event brought a celebration of sorts with cultural performances, panel discussions, trip to orange orchards, and exciting contests and giveaways for the visitors. Some human lit statue, 21 art installations across locations, over 12,000 people joined in for the food festival + flea market & wishing tree, 15 performances from Morning Raga to Rock bands to Kathak & Lavni performances by international artists, 10 culinary master classes, 500 lucky winners experienced hot air balloon ride, special fireworks show at more than one location got the attention of lot of spectators across multiple locations. Above 2.5k active participation by kids during the festival through the art competition, school visits and participation in games. 3 kilometer long carnival parade with more than 20 floats, 4 performing troupes witnessed by close to 20,000+ people.

Commenting on the initiative, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways said “Nagpur is known for its highest production of oranges. To multiply the production and quality of the fruit, farmers need to use advanced technologies for farming. Festivals like world orange are a platform to share new technology and research with farmers to help increase the growth and sale of oranges at a Global level. We are planning to set up shops at Railway stations and International airports to promote and market oranges on a wider platform.”

Shri Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Hon'ble Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, added, “‘World Orange Festival’ is to promote specialties of Nagpur oranges on the global map. Tourism has become an important option for the economic development of the country. MTDC is playing an important role to give a momentum to Nagpur as a tourist destination. We believe ‘World Orange Festival’ will attract people with diverse interests and bring them on one platform which will get global recognition.” “The most important aspect for the growth of Indian farmers is to increase their income. Through this initiative and global recognition, the farmers will get the value for the lost produce. Our main motive is to create awareness which will eventually help in the growth of the farmers,” said Shri Jai Shroff, Global CEO, UPL.

Government and private entities as Orange Growers Association of India, Department of Agriculture, UPL, Bajaj Electricals, Coca-Cola, Indian Oil, Camlin, Integriti have all come forward towards the larger cause of this festival. A Lokmat initiative, the entire festival was conceptualized and executed by Taplight. #WorldOrangeFestival

The closing ceremony was graced by State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar, Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal, Deputy Chairman of Legislative Council Manikrao Thakre, Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde, Water Resource Minister Girish Mahajan, Cooperative Minister Subhash Deshmukh, State Home Minister Ranjit Patil, State Tourism Minister Madan Yerawar, and Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra Praveen Pardeshi.

Australian Master Chef Sarah Todd and celebrity chef Vicky Ratnani tickled the taste buds of his delighted audience with orange based recipes, while evenings were high on entertainment with DJ Aqeel, a remarkable Sufi fusion by Roopmati Jolly and Luke Kenny. It ended on a fulfilling musical performance by youth sensation of Bollywood - Benny Dayal. The festival also had fireworks, hot air balloon, kids arts workshop by Camlin, games by Nickelodeon with a toon cartoon Shiva, Hindi and Marathi theatre, live interaction with artists as Anup Soni Sonali Kulkarni, Smita Bansal or cultural performances by International girl band & dancers followed by Marathi actress & dancer Sonali Kulkarni’s dance performance.

For further information, please contact:

Kiwishka Prasad

Email: kiwishka.prasad@ketchumsampark.com

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