Celebrate music, food, comedy and more at Delhi Summer Festival

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS) A melange of activities including music, food and stand-up comedy is set to enthral the capital's revellers at the Delhi Summer Festival.

An initiative by Delhi Tourism, the three-day event will begin on Friday at the Dilli Haat in Janakpuri, and will host an array of activities including mini-workshops on recipes and preparations.

Taking a cue from the Delhi Mango Festival, the Delhi Summer Festival will host several interactive sessions such as the ‘100 hai daam, kitne bhi khao aam (Eat as many mangoes you like, all for Rs 100)’. Visitors will have to pay Rs 100 per person as the entry fee to be eligible for this unlimited offer.

The food spread will have different varieties of mangoes along with other summer fruits, thirst quenchers, yoghurts and ice creams.

All three days of the festival will offer interactive sessions, fun zones for children, especially curated performances by artistes like IP Singh & the Singalongs (of Faridkot fame), singer-songwriter Pratyul Joshi, qawwal Yusuf Khan Nizami along with performances by stand-up comedians and illusionists such as Abhijit Ganguly, Vikramjit Singh, Jeeveshu Ahluwalia and Abhishek Acharya.

"What was Mango Festival till last year is Delhi Summer Festival now. While retaining the 27-year-long legacy of this festival, there are many additions this year to make a wholesome family entertainment weekend," Ali Safdar, Chief Operation Officer, Scoop Brandholdings, the company that has produced this Delhi Tourism initiative, told IANS.

"The festival will exhibit over 550 varieties of mangoes from the length and breadth of the country. Entertainment ranges from multiple music genres to stand-up comedy, dance performances etc. The decor is in tandem with the spirit of celebration and summer that the festival embodies," he added.

Joshi is hoping to make a connection with the audiences at the festival with his music.

"I always tried that the songs that I make or folk songs that I play should leave the listeners with something. I am hopeful that my set list for the Delhi Summer Festival, which includes multilingual originals like 'Kaleena',or tongue-in-cheek satire like 'Baadshah' along with folk songs, might find connection with the people of my favourite city," Joshi told IANS.