Decks cleared for Shirui Lily Fest after 2 years hiatus

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 24 : After being suspended for two consecutive years on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Shirui Lily Festival 2022 is all set for kick-off at Shirui village, Ukhrul tomorrow.
Briefing media persons at his North AOC office this afternoon, Tourism Director W Ibohal informed that all preparations are almost done for the 4th edition of the Shirui Lily Festival which would culminate on May 28.
The opening ceremony scheduled tomorrow at Shirui village would be graced by Governor La Ganesan as chief guest and Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren as president, he said.
SHIROCK 2022 would also kick off tomorrow evening at Bakshi Ground as a part of the festival. The SHIROCK music band competition would begin from the next evening.
British metal band Monuments would perform on May 28, the last day of the festival.
Cultural troupes from within the State and outside would present cultural dance and music items every afternoon/evening throughout the festival at Shirui Ground, informed the Tourism Director.  
The same venue will also host State level flower competition, chefs competition and Miss Shirui Lily Pageant, he said.
Apart from food stalls, commercial stalls would also be opened at Shirui Ground, which is the main venue of the festival.
Bakshi Ground would also have similar stalls, Ibohal said.
As done in the previous editions, adventure activities are being organised at Phangrei.
TNL Ground which was a main venue in the previous editions of the festival would host a football exhibition match, he continued.
CM team and TNL team may play the exhibition match but the details are not known yet as the task of organising the exhibition was entrusted to the TNL exclusively, he said.
One additional feature of this year’s Shirui Lily Festival is exhibition of Tangkhul Hui (Haofa, an indigenous breed of dog) and Shandang (Mithun) which are found in Ukhrul district.
A special bus service has been arranged for people who wish to attend the festival. Starting from 8 am, buses would leave ISBT, Khuman Lampak for Ukhrul everyday, he added.
The department has been working to arrange mini-buses for taking visitors to Shirui village from Ukhrul district headquarters, the Tourism Director said.
He then appealed to all the people of Ukhrul district and visitors to make the festival a clean and a long lasting festival.
To a query, Ibohal said that the previous edition of Shirui Lily Festival witnessed around five lakh footfalls and the number of visitors is likely to rise this time.
Meanwhile, the Transport Department has arranged a daily dedicated public transport system for ferrying general public/interested individuals to Shirui Lily Festival 2022 from May 25 to 28.
Three buses would ply between MST office, Moirangkhom and Ukhrul.
The buses would leave Moirangkhom at 7 am, 7.30 am and 8.30 am. They would leave Ukhrul for Imphal at 2.30 pm, 3 pm and 3.30 pm.
The bus fare is Rs 180 per passenger, according to a notice issued by the Transport Director.