Forest Minister Dr Harak Singh Rawat inaugurates Uttarakhand Adventure Fest

 Dehradun: Organised by FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50%, the Uttarakhand Adventure Fest 2021 commenced at Solitaire Farms today. The two-day fest is being held in association with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board.

The fest commenced with the lamp lighting ceremony by the Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dr. Harak Singh Rawat, Secretary Uttarakhand Tourism & CEO UTDB Dilip Jawalkar, IFS, PCCS & HoFF Forest Department Rajiv Bhartari, State Convenor, FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50% Dr Neha Sharma and State Consultant of Tourism Wing, FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50 Kiran Bhatt Todaria.

Addressing the audience, Dr Harak Singh Rawat said, “I am thankful to FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50% and the Uttarakhand Tourism Department for organizing such a prominent adventure festival in our state. The tourism sector holds a crucial part for Uttarakhand, as our state is truly blessed with the best of natural beauty & resources. I must say that our Dev Bhoomi holds the potential to emerge as the most preferred tourism destination in the entire world, and such initiatives by organizations like FICCI can definitely help Uttarakhand to attain that spot!”

Dr. Harak Singh Rawat also inaugurated the Single Window System for Mountaineering related services in Uttarakhand which is designed and developed by Forest Department and NIC Uttarakhand.

During the occasion, the State Convenor of FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50% Dr Neha Sharma said, “FICCI takes immense pride in hosting the much-awaited Uttarakhand Adventure Fest 2021. With this one-of-its-kind adventure festival, we aim to bring about a change in the adventure scenario in Uttarakhand. In addition to boosting the adventure tourism in the state, we also aim at making our Dev Bhoomi a prominent adventure capital worldwide.”

The program began with the panel discussion on the topic ‘Forest and Wildlife Tourism’, and the speakers on the occasion were IFS, PCCS & HoFF Forest Department Rajiv Bhartari, Naturalist South East Asia Ratna Singh, Business Head at Roundglass Sustain Neha Dara, and Environmentalist Prateek Panwar. The moderator for this session was Green Activist Ira Chauhan.

This was followed by an outdoor education workshop for children, along with several adventure activities and contests.

Speaking during the program, the State Consultant of Tourism Wing of FICCI FLO – Empowering The Greater 50 Kiran Bhatt Todaria said, “Witnessing participation by so many adventure enthusiasts at the Uttarakhand Adventure Fest today is what we had aimed for in the first place. There couldn’t have been a better initiative than to host such an eminent adventure festival to mark World Tourism Day.”

Later, a panel discussion on ‘Homestay and Rural Tourism’ was held, wherein Director Himalayan Ark Malika Virdi, Founder Goat Village Agro Tourism Rupesh Rai, Founder Village Ways Manisha Pande, and Initiater & Advisor Waste Warriors Corbett Project Minakshi Pandey. The session was moderated by Founder BTDT Lokesh Ohri.

Students from several schools and colleges took part on the Day 1 of the Uttarakhand Adventure Fest. Various informative workshops related to CPR, first-aid, and tent pitching were also held.

The first day of the two-day-long adventure fest concluded with a panel discussion on ‘Young Adventurers-Millenials & Careers in Adventure’. The panelists of this session were Prerna Dangi, Ultra-runner & Mountaineer Jyotsana Rawat, Sukrit Gupta, Mountaineer Deep Sahi, and Travel Blogger Shivya Nath. The session was moderated by the Founder of Candid India, Deepika Chowdhry.

The main objective of holding the Uttarakhand Adventure Fest 2021 is to encourage the youth towards adventure sports and to give our tourism a boost after COVID.

During the Uttarakhand Adventure Fest, people enjoyed hot air ballooning, Burma bridge, and rock wall climbing.

The production of the fest is being done by KSM Film Productions.