IMPHAL: Renowned rock bands
Nazareth
and Extreme will belt out their greatest hits at the picturesque Shirui mountain ranges in Ukhurl district during the "3rd State Level 'Shirui Festival 2019' from October 16 to 19.
While Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, Extreme is an American rock band. Besides the thundering rock shows, the state-sponsored festival named after Shirui,the beautiful lily only grown only in Shirui mountain peaks, will also witness varieties of cultural programmes and arrays of mouth-watering indigenous food items and lots more.
Britisher Frank Kingdon Ward discovered Shirui Lily (Lilium mackliniae) in 1948 . The beautiful
flower
blooms in May and June. In 1989, the state government declared Shirui Lily as the state flower. Union tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate the festival, official sources said and added that American rock band Extreme will perform on the inaugural day, while the closing day will witness the greatest numbers of Scottish band Nazareth.
On Tuesday, a meeting of the festival's organising committee was held to review the preparedness of the festival with chief minster N Biren Singh in the chair at his office secretariat here. Attended by the state chief secretary and senior officials from the tourism and finance departments,
Ukhrul
district administration and representatives of Shirui village, the meeting also discuss other aspects of the festival including the inflow of tourists and their accommodations.
Over 700 people have already booked online for home stay at the Tangkhul Naga-dominated Shirui to attend the festival. The festival was postponed owing to the enforcement of model code of conduct of the 17th Lok Sabha polls this year.