If you think of two basic necessities of human life then surely you will think of food and clothes! And we are always very keen to keep picking up such things from everywhere around us, especially when we are walking by some street side stalls of food or fashion. This kind of street shopping exudes some unadulterated joy which somehow helps us relate to our childhoods. But when you want to celebrate these two elements of our lives all under one roof, then you surely wanna visit unique festivals or events like ‘Streets of India’. It was truly an exclusive street shopping festival which was held at Swabhumi from 11th to 13th November ’16. It brought together a huge number of food and fashion brands all together to put up their exhibition stalls at their arena. So it was surely a huge success and one of the biggest food and fashion festivals held in the city of joy in recent times. It was the artistic showcasing of India’s artisanal excellence alongside its gastronomic delights, with major cities participating with their signature food fare. If Kolkata is represented by Dakshinapan, then Jaipur is represented by Johari Bazar fare and Mumbai by Colaba Causeway, Lucknow is then represented by Hazratganj… and so on. This was surely one awesome event in the city of joy!
The overall arrangements were marvelous, very organized and well managed. The stalls were well spaced out, crowd control was again perfect and the overall tidiness and hygiene maintained at the exhibition ground was praiseworthy. Though I am not a fashion blogger but still I was floored by the huge range of collections available there at all the stalls. I am sure this was a piece of heaven for any fashion enthusiast or for any girl, I suppose, who likes to stay fashionable and trendy 🙂
Even I spotted several stalls selling home décor items and lovely art pieces, framed pictures, artworks, statues, etc. The huge variety of fashion and art items on display surely gives such festivals an extra edge, especially in Kolkata where people are somewhat born art lover.
And what’s the other thing Kolkatans like most? Yes, no price for guessing that! That’s ‘food’. Kokatans spend a huge amount of money on food and they are extremely happy for it, and yes they should be! So, anything related to food is definitely one of the biggest industries in the city now. And here I was amazed to see all the big names like My Big Fat Belly, Mumble’s Lab, Monkey Bar, Chowman, Chai Break, Snack Street café, Pabrai’s ice creams, Aura (Sonnet), Zucca lounge, Peerless Inn, Edesia, Bodega, Aminia, etc all under one roof standing side by side! It’s surely gives an insane amount of joy to a foodie like me to get them all together. Maybe this is what heaven looks like! I felt as if I am spoilt for choices 🙂
But nevertheless, I would like to thank My Big Fat Belly and Mumble’s Lab for showing all the love when we were there at their stalls and for giving us some of their new items for tasting. The pan fried sausages with veggies at My Big Fat Belly was insanely good. And loved the dragon breath at Mumble’s lab which is surely more fun for the onlooker since huge amount of smoke comes out of your mouth when you have it in your mouth. And yes, don’t miss that Bong burger when you visit My Big Fat Belly next time that has that kosha mangsho in there that entices every Bengali. Also M-Bar Kitchen was their beverage partner and they were there with their open pop-up bar. They had a huge stall set up that really can’t be missed out. And yes, you also can’t miss that centre stage where there were several performances going on all the while.
Overall I liked the event and all the fun we had over there. I would definitely like to thank ‘Streets of India’ and ‘Candid Communications’ for the invitation to this event as one of the official bloggers. The branded ‘Streets of India’ hamper was amazing and I absolutely loved it!
But, only one thing – I would have appreciated if the event schedules were shared since I didn’t receive any, I guess that was badly missed. But yes, I enjoyed when I was there with my friends. When one gets all the food and fashion he/she needs then the real fun begins! The festival was truly rich, colorful, entertaining and diverse. I wish Kolkatans get more such festivals that bring some moments of joy and peace in their lives!
Will be waiting for Streets of India (Kolkata) Edition-2.
Cheers!
foodiedada 