Four-day handloom festival begins today

A four-day fair on handloom products titled "Heritage Handloom Festival 2022" kicks off today at the Gulshan shooting club in the capital, open for all from 10:00am to 8:00pm.

Aiming at promoting local handloom products, SME Foundation and the Association of Fashion Designers of Bangladesh with the support of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs are jointly organising the festival for the fourth time.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The announcement came at a press conference at Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation yesterday.

The festival will showcase different handloom products for local and foreign visitors along with items produced by the indigenous communities of Bangladesh.

About 60 entrepreneurs and designers will display traditional and heritage products at the festival, brought from different regions of the country.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is scheduled to inaugurate the festival as chief guest while Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun and State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will be present as special guest.

Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, said the festival would help entrepreneurs, especially those running small handloom businesses, flourish.

"We want to keep our culture and heritage alive by strengthening such entrepreneurs as they are continuing the business in order to retain their heritage," he said.

"We promote our traditional weavers and this festival will play an important role in the development of the weaving industry," said Mantasha Ahmed, president of the fashion designers' association.

She said by the use, promotion, expansion and marketing of weaving products, it would be possible to prevent traditional products from going extinct.

Three designers from India, Japan and the Maldives will participate in this festival with their products, Mantasha added.

Visitors enjoy witnessing with their own eyes the weaving process of these products at the festival, said the organisers.

A number of seminars, fashion shows, folk dance and musical programmes along with business to business matchmaking programmes will be organised, they added.