By Our Correspondent
Pashupatinagar, Apr. 13: Third Suryodaya Street Festival will be held in Fikkal of Suryodaya Municipality, Ilam.
In the joint organisation of Suryodaya Hotel Association and Aayam United Club, the street festival will be held on April 14 and 15 on the occasion of New Year 2079 BS.

It has been stated that the festival will help in the promotion of tourism. The festival, which will have 35 stalls with local cuisines, will feature performances by various bands, said Abhishek Shrestha, chairman of Suryodaya Hotel Association.

The local food items of Newar, Rai and Limbu community will be displayed in the festival. Entrance to the festival is free, which is expected to have 150,000 visitors.
At a press conference held in Fikkal on Monday, the organisers said that the cost of the festival would be Rs. 3.7 million.
The festival will be organised with the financial support of Suryodaya Municipality and Ward No. 10.

Meanwhile , the first Mountain Bike Adventure Challenge (MBAC) will be organised also in Fikkal on April 13 on the occasion of New Year 2079 BS.
The winner of 11-km long competition will receive a trophy with Rs. 20,000 in cash while 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up will get cash prize of Rs. 15,000 and 10,000 along with trophies respectively. People above thirty years old can participate in the competition. Chairman of Ilam MTB Riders Sharan Fago informed that more than 50 participants have come from Ilam, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Panchthar.

Starting from Fikkal Chowk Bazaar, cyclists will route Naya Chowk-Kerabari-Ale-Sahid Chowk-10-Ward Office-Barbote- Fikkal Ring Road and end at Chowk Bazaar. Senior members participating in the competition will be honoured during the competition.

Yuvraj Basnet, advisor to the organising institution, said that the MBAC is being organised with the objective of attracting people for cycling for health and tourism promotion.
He is one of the oldest cyclists in the Suryodaya area. Basnet said that attraction of cycling has been increased in the area. He used to do cycling alone before but now there are ten-twelve cyclists. The organisers said that if the youths could be attracted to cycling, the number of youths falling into addiction could also be reduced. The organisers have estimated that it will cost Rs. 425,000 to complete the competition.

Suryodaya Municipality, Ward No. 10 has assisted in conducting the competition. It is said that the programme will help boost the tourism sector which slumped due to COVID-19.