With the aim of establishing Pokhara as an international cultural and theater tourism center, the International Drama Festival has started from Saturday.

Dhanraj Acharya, Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality, inaugurated the festival which will run till Chait 13th under the organization of Pokhara Theatre. The organizers handed him a paper to announce the opening of the program. It was written, 'Your God is here! The opening of the 5-day program was announced after recitation of this dialogue excerpt of Madan, the character of the famous short poem Muna-Madan.

Speaking after the opening, Mayor Acharya asserted that having one event after another related to art, literature and other fields is moving Pokhara in a positive direction . He said that it is necessary for the new generation to show the world by using activity techniques such as poetry and drama.

'Pokhara is a place to represent the society and give a positive message through drama in the same way as the previous generation did in schools, colleges or theaters in different places,' he said, 'It is important for the new generation to use technology to show such activities all over the world.' He informed that preparations are being made to hold a film tourism festival in Pokhara under the auspices of the Film Development Board. On the first day of the

festival, a play based on the famous short poem Muna-Madan by epic poet Lakshmi Prasad Devkota and a play related to embryo killing, 'Embroinic' has been staged . Dances of Newar, Tharu, Gurung and Magar communities were also presented. Before the opening of the festival, a tableau exhibition and cultural parade was held from the theater at Gaihrapatan to the theater via Tersapatti, Mahendrapul, Chipledhunga, Ramakrishna Toll.

Foreign dramas will be staged from Sunday, the president of Pokhara Theater said. He informed that about 40 foreign artists from China, Tunisia, Norway, Japan have come to Pokhara to participate in the drama. About 40 people have come. Some people may think that foreign dramas are not understood,' Paritar said, 'when foreign actors are staging a play on stage, subtitles are played on the back.'

On the second day, Anju Dahal will have an acting-focused dialogue with actor Prakash Ghimire and actress Diya Maske on Sunday. Paritar informed that the Tunisian drama staging and a program to teach foreigners to play madal, flute and sarangi will also be held on Sunday. On the third day, the Chinese team will stage a play. On that day, Mayor Dhanraj Acharya and culture worker Jasu Gurung will stage a Japanese play Apart from drama staging, dialogues, cultural costumes and paintings will be exhibited and sold, Padmaprem Theater and Triveni Sangeetalaya's original tunes and cultural exhibitions will be presented.