Soon, FIMA to spread wings of open air Magic Fair to districts

Kolkata: Buoyed by the excitement among the people, the Federation of Indian Magic Associates (FIMA) is planning to spread the wings of the open air Magic Fair to the districts.

The 4th edition of the three-day Magic Fair organised by FIMA that was held at Mohor Kunja in the heart of the city concluded on Friday.

"We have initiated talks with senior officials from the state Information & Cultural Affairs department and they have verbally agreed in providing assistance to us to hold the Magic fair in the districts. We are hopeful that we will be able to organise this fair in districts in two years' time," Santanu Sen, secretary of FIMA said.

The three-day event which is one of its kind in the country saw participation from nearly 250 magicians from across Bengal and other states. "Our aim is to popularise the art of magic and encourage people in taking it up as a profession. There are magicians in the state who earn more than one lakh a month," pointed out Sanjay Chatterjee, co-founder of FIMA.

The magicians, jugglers, acrobats and conjurers not only displayed their skills but also imparted lessons to young enthusiasts. Some of the acts which were shown to the assembled audience included close up, conjuring, impromptu magic show, madari act, hand shadow graphy, juggling, street magic, fire act and others.

"Magic is not about any mantra or spell, it is a blend of intelligence and dexterity. This is the basic message that we want to deliver through the fair," Sen said.

The organisers of the fair shared the opinion that magicians of India are equally talented compared to their counterparts in Europe and America.

"They only require exposure and publicity. If schools take up the initiative of including magic as an extra-curricular subject, then thousands of children will be exposed to a new world that goes beyond the Harry Potter adventure," a noted magician performing at the event said.

Stalls were put up so that the common people could buy magic props and perform simple magic at their homes.

A blindfold rally with motor cycles that marked the beginning of the event was also a major attraction.