Preparations are underway to organize a ‘Trade Festival’ in Musikot, the district headquarters of West Rukum. However, on one hand, preparations are being made to hold the event in a location that is far from the usual and safe open grounds, inconvenient, and unsafe, while on the other hand, there is no clear permission from the local government.

The Rukum West branch of the National Folk and Dohori Song Foundation, which claims to be the organizer, has stated that preparations are being made to organize the festival by renting private land near the airport in Salle, Musikot–1. The Musikot Municipality has said that it has not given any permission regarding the festival being held here.

The municipality appears to have issued notices three times in succession according to the ‘Musikot Municipality Fair and Festival Management Procedure–2083’. In the first notice issued on 23 Baisakh 2083, organizations interested in conducting fairs and festivals at suitable locations other than the Barahatakura playground in Musikot–1 were invited to submit competitive sealed bids at a rate of Rs. 500,000.

Nearly a month later, on 18 Jestha 2083, the municipality issued another notice stating that ‘no organization had submitted an application to conduct the fair and festival as per the previously published notice’ and again called for ‘submission of sealed bids’ according to the same criteria. After this, on 27 Jestha 2083, the municipality issued a third notice of the same nature, again calling for the submission of sealed bids for conducting the fair and festival._{Notice published by the municipality for conducting the fair and festival.}

The third notice mentions the same previous criteria. However, this notice does not mention the progress after the previous notice or the reason for issuing the notice for the third time.

Musikot Mayor Mahendra KC said that according to the third notice, ‘the notice was issued to allow the bidder who meets the criteria as per the procedure and scores the highest points to conduct the festival and to come for an agreement.’ However, he said that since the selected bidder did not come to sign the agreement within the stipulated time, the remaining process could not move forward.

‘There was no agreement with the legally selected bidder. Apart from this, we have not given permission to anyone else to organize the festival,’ he said. ‘We have no official information about the preparations said to be taking place in Salle. If anyone is conducting fair and festival activities without the municipality’s permission, that is illegal.’

Tul Devkota, president of the Folk and Dohori Song Foundation, Rukum West, which is preparing to organize the festival, said that his organization is the third bidder, based on the provision written at the end of the notice issued on 18 Asar, which states that ‘if the highest scoring bidder does not appear within the specified period, the second bidder, and if the second bidder also does not appear, the third bidder will be given permission to conduct the festival.’ He claimed that the first and second bidders had already informed the municipality that they could not organize the festival, so his organization should automatically be allowed to organize it, and preparations have begun accordingly.

At present, the work of setting up swings at the proposed festival site has been completed, and other works such as fencing are being carried out rapidly. President Devkota said that preparations for the festival have begun with an investment of Rs. 1 million so far.

President Devkota said that since the municipality specified a location other than Barahatakura, this site is suitable for the festival. ‘Although there are other open spaces, they are not convenient for the audience, so we were compelled to rent land and organize the festival here,’ he said. ‘We will take security matters seriously. The municipality and local administration should provide necessary support to organize the festival.’

Until two years ago, fairs and festivals held at the district headquarters used to take place at Barahatakura, but since then, no large fairs or festivals have been organized. Even though the municipality is aware that there is no alternative to Barahatakura near the market, why was it suggested to organize the festival elsewhere? In response, Mayor KC says, ‘Various sports activities are conducted daily at Barahatakura, and a festival lasting a week or ten days would affect those daily activities. Also, since it is the only open space near the market, in case of any disaster, it is the only place for people to gather, so the procedure clearly states that fairs and festivals should not be held there.’