Three-day food festival begins in Mussoorie
MUSSOORIE: A three-day food festival began at Mall Road in Mussoorie on Monday amid protest against it over Omicron threat.
Minister Ganesh Joshi inaugurated the event being organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council (UTDB) with an objective to provide taste of local Pahari cuisines to tourists.
Joshi said,” As winter line carnival was canceled due to new guidelines in wake of virus spread we thought of compensating it with a small edition of food festival as per the guidelines.”
Notably, the district administration had canceled the winter line carnival in wake of spike in Omicron variant Covid cases in the country, but the tourism department decided to go ahead with the food festival for three days.
Congress state general secretary Upendra Thapli said,” On one hand, the state government had canceled the winter line carnival due to rise in Covid 19 cases but on the other hand, it is organising a food festival which is unpardonable.”
District tourism officer Jaspal Chauhan said, “Around 20 stalls have been set up where visitors will get to enjoy Pahari cuisine, Uttarakhandi folk dance, live bands and cultural programs.”
The hospitality industry that was disappointed at the decision to cancel the carnival is glad that a symbolic food festival is being organised at a low scale.
Sanjay Agarwal, president of Mussoorie Hotel Association, said, “We were disappointed at the cancellation of the winter line carnival due to Omicron... We welcome the move to go ahead with the food festival to promote local cuisine.”
Local residents are baffled at this decision of the tourism department to organise the food festival amid the fear of Omicron spread.