Jatra festival finale returns to Shilpakala

The final phase of the month-long jatra festival will be held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy from January 21 to 23, resuming after a brief pause due to a state mourning period.

Organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and managed by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the festival began on December 1 as part of the Victory Month programme. Troupes from across the country participated through a formal registration process. The closing chapter will now complete the festival’s Dhaka leg.

The finale opens today (Wednesday), January 21, at 6:30 pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Shilpakala Academy. Urmi Opera from Mohammadpur, Magura, will stage “Premer Shomadhi Tire”. The play is written by Nirmal Mukhopadhyay and directed by Shamim Khandakar.

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On January 22, at the same venue and time, Tisha Opera from Birampur, Dinajpur, will present “Daini Bodhu”.

The festival will conclude on January 23 with a formal closing ceremony. Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki will attend as the chief guest. That evening, the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Repertory Jatra Unit will stage “General Osmani”, written by M A Majid and directed by Tanvir Nahid Khan.

A major public feature of the final day will be a city procession of jatra artistes. From 2 pm, performers from different troupes will walk through central Dhaka wearing costumes of their stage characters, reciting lines and accompanied by live music. The procession will begin at Shilpakala Academy, pass through band Shahbagh, and return to Shilpakala.

The final performance of the festival will begin at 6:30 pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall, with the staging of “General Osmani”.

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Across the month-long programme, 36 registered jatra troupes staged 36 different productions. In addition, the Shilpakala Academy Repertory Jatra Unit presented one production, bringing the total number of performances to 37.

Organisers said all revenue from ticket sales will go directly to the participating troupes, providing financial support to artistes working in this traditional popular theatre form.

The festival was designed to give national visibility to jatra, a form rooted in rural performance traditions but still capable of attracting urban audiences when supported with proper venues and promotion. By hosting troupes from different districts and placing the finale in the capital, the organisers aimed to connect regional performance culture with city-based audiences and institutions.