'Delhi Celebrates' the Games spirit

Commonwealth Games will not just be restricted to sporting events. It is going to be one of the biggest shows Delhi has every hosted showcasing country's rich and diverse culture of dance, art, music, theatre and culinary expertise. While the sporting extravaganza would run for 10 days, from
October 4 to 13, the 'Delhi Celebrates' festival will entertain tourists — both Indian and foreign — as well as the locals for two months.

The festival is kick-starting  on Tuesday at Dilli Haat where all the states will present their cultural events.

"It is going to be an iconic festival in the history of art and culture. We will present a huge number of programmes to cater to everybody's taste," Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said at the launch of the festival's calendar.

Officials said the festival has everything to cater to the people of different nationalities, age groups and people of different genres.

To reach out to the international tourists, especially from the countries participating in the Commonwealth Games, the cultural bonanza will also have film screening, poetry and musical shows from the commonwealth games countries.   

According to senior Delhi government officials, 15 different agencies including the Delhi Government, Ministry of Culture, National School of Drama, Sangeet Akadami, the National Museum for Modern Art and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts are putting up a grand show across the city.

"'Delhi Celebrates' will be the largest single exposition of culture in history of India," said Jawahar Sircar, secretary, Union Ministry of Culture.

The calendar of 'Delhi Celebrates' events are also on the Delhi government website.