Chief Minister to inaugurate 9th Kolkata Christmas Festival

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the 9th Kolkata Christmas Festival 2019 at Allen Park in Park Street on Monday.

The Christmas Festival at Park Street and its festive fervour draws a large number of domestic tourist as well as foreign tourists every year.

This year's Christmas Festival will have two new sections- the first one will be the Kolkata Christmas Green Quiz in which students from various schools of the city will be participating, and the second one will be a green awareness program which will be conducted by some NGOs. Some women self-help groups from Howrah will set up stalls inside Allen Park to spread the message of the green campaign.

There will be cultural programmes and performances from noted artists . The Kolkata Police band will also perform at the venue.

"The entire stretch of Park Street & Allen Park and St. Cathedral Church has been illuminated with decorative lights with funds provided by the state Tourism department," a senior official of Kolkata Municipal Corporation's Lighting department said.

Churches in nine other places in the state – Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Chandannagar, Bandel, Krishnanagar and Baruipur – will also be decorated to mark the celebrations

The festival that is being organised jointly by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Kolkata Police, Information and Cultural Affairs Department and Apeejay Surrendra Group will continue till December 30.

Apart from Banerjee, Mayor Firhad Hakim, Minister of state for Tourism Indranil Sen , MP Derek O Brien will be present at the inaugural programme.

Moreover, for over a century, the St. Paul's Cathedral has given out an open invitation to all who want to pray and celebrate the festival of Chrismas, irrespective of their religion. The midnight mass held at the cathedral may not be full of alcohol and food, but for those that want a calm atmosphere or desire spiritual guidance, it is a must-visit event.

Every year during Christmas celebrations, the church has hundreds of people coming from all walks of life and all religions. There is also a massive cake and people often come early to the church to socialise with each other.