Puri: The 47th Kumar Utsav 2026, organised by the Shrikhetra Youth Cultural Association (SYCA), will be held October 25 and 26 at Golden Sea Beach in Puri, with the aim of promoting the region’s cultural heritage and fostering cultural exchange at the national level.
The two-day festival will feature folk dances, music and comedy performances by artistes from different states.
At a press conference held at Hotel Sagarkanya in Baliapanda Saturday, the association’s working president, Birendra Narayan Gochhikar, general secretary Santosh Kumar Satpathy and treasurer Jitendra Das Mahapatra outlined the programme.
The inaugural ceremony October 25 will be attended by state minister Suryabanshi Suraj, Puri MP Sambit Patra, association president Tapan Kumar Chand, district collector Dibyajyoti Parida, municipal corporation joint commissioner Abhimanyu Behera and former MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi.
The closing ceremony will feature Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy, Rajya Sabha members Subhasish Khuntia and Samik Bhattacharya, West Bengal Assembly chief whip Amlan Bhaduri and Priyanath Chatterjee, president of the Omkarnath Mission.
Cultural performances will include Sambalpuri folk dances and traditional dances from West Bengal and Assam. Cultural troupes from the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in Kolkata and the North Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in Dimapur will also participate.
Ollywood comedians Pragnya and Shankar will entertain the audience, while Indian Idol winner Jyotirmayee Nayak will perform live.
