10th Bagmati River Festival

In August, the Bagmati River Festival called on the people of Kathmandu to act against the pollution of the sacred river through clean-up programs, art competitions, workshops, musical concerts and a rafting competition. Oh yes, you can raft on the Bagmati.

Celebrating Diversity: A Musical Caravan
As 2010 began, a group of musicians led by Kutumba and Minap (Mithila Natya Kala Parishad) toured across the country. Among others, the Newari dhime baja, Limbu chyabrung, Maithali dholak and Awadi farsa played in harmony to bring together the diverse sounds of Nepal. The 12-day festival kicked off on 8 January in Dadeldhura and travelled through Kapilvastu, Bara, Lahan and Pachthar before concluding in Kathmandu.

5th Sundance Music festival
Music lovers headed towards The Last Resort in April. The two-day festival had an ensemble of artists from abroad including Electro Foundation, Soul Train and Blue Eyed Girls, Velvet Valor and local bands like Albatross and ALT+F4. We sure are glad that the locals around the area have resolved their disputes with the resort, allowing the latter to continue operations. We can now expect Sundance to shine again in 2011.

Mandala Street Festival
Thamel's trendy new location came alive in October for the 2nd Annual Mandala Street Festival. The 3-day free event on the only pedestrian street in Thamel had something for everyone. Apart from food and games, a must-try at the festival was the 'horizontal bungee'. There were performances by cultural troupes from 14 districts, as well as by local bands Rudra, Rock Sitar and Kutumba.

Planet Nepal
Concerts, film screenings, art performances, and panel discussions were jam-packed into a three-day event at Patan Darbar Square at the end of October. Planet Nepal was a multi-dimensional event aimed at raising environmental awareness. Hopefully, if we have another next year it will be more spread out so we can make the most of it.

8th ANBUG-Himalayan VW Beetle Rally
Volkswagen may have officially come to town this year but it was the proud owners of the old Beetles that took to the streets in October. Altogether, 26 Beetles took part in this charity drive from Darbar Marg to Namo Buddha. The proceeds from the event were donated to the Himalayan Cleft Foundation and Shree Mahankal Prastabit Primary School in Patle Khet, Namo Buddha.

Himalayan Blues Festival
Come November, and it was time for the Himalayan Blues Festival to treat us to a mix of acoustic and electric blues dished out by virtuosos on guitar, harmonica, electric bass along with sitar and tabla. Five days of excellent gigs by artists from Europe, North and South America, Australia, Sweden and of course, our own local boys, all around town. The festival came via India this year.

Glocalization of Art : Contemporary Art Practice
While most conferences are all talk, the international and national artists, art students, and scholars who attended Glocalization of Art had a bit of creative homework to do as well. The conference was followed by a three-day workshop, with the results exhibited at Lasanaa in Jhamsikhel on 4 December.

Slam Poetry Fortnight
Nepalis were slammed with poetry the likes of which they had never heard before. Matt Mason, Karen Finneyfrock and Danny Solis from the US reached out to young poets in Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Itahari through writing workshops, public performances, and lectures on slam poetry through December. The highlight was the first inter-school poetry slam, with over 80 youths participating.

KIMFF

The 8th edition of the ever-popular Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) kicked off on 9 December, and featured 62 films from 35 countries. Workshops on animation, film making and writing enhanced the festival, and viewers could also stop by for book exhibitions and lectures. The five-day festival concluded by awarding the top honour to The Broken Moon (Brazil), directed by Marcos Negrao and Andre Rangel. In the Nepal Panorama section, Murray Kerr's Birami Sahar (Sick City) received the Best Film award.

8th Jazzmandu

"Ari Hoenig adds not just beats to a piece but has a way of creating melody with his drumsticks," bass player Pravin Chettri noted when asked about this year's Jazzmandu headliner. Hoenig duly obliged with a rendition of Resham Phiriri on drums. Alukomarai, Simak Dialog, Adrian d'Souza Quartet, Bug, and Saksri Pang Vongdharadon Quintet provided the fireworks, supported ably by our very own Cadenza, Kutumba, Gandarva, and Prabhu Raj Dhakal & Friends.

3rd International Theatre Festival

Thespians from around the world converged on Gurukul in mid-November for the three-week Kathmandu International Theatre Festival. The festival featured 22 performances as well as workshops, kickstarted by Gurukul production Agniko Katha, directed by Sunil Pokharel.

Travelling Film South Asia (TFSA)

For those who missed out last year, TFSA returned with the best of non-fiction films from the region in July. Twelve documentaries from Film South Asia 2009 were screened at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka, including three of the award winners � Yasmine Kabir's The Last Rites, Lalit Vachani's The Salt Stories, and Tanvir Mokammel's The Promised Land.

Let's talk about Art baby!

Siddhartha Art Gallery wrapped up 2010 with a much hyped exhibition from Sujan Chitrakar, who recaptured in acrylic iconic images and familiar locations. This 'collaborative solo' won't be the last, it seems, with more 'ARTivities' planned.

The Life of Food in Nepal

Forty-six photographs from 18 photographers catalogued Nepali food culture in 'The Life of Food in Nepal', an exhibition at the Nepal Art Council in July. The photos were a journey through the life-cycle of food in Nepal, illustrating its cultivation, preparation, consumption and use in rituals. The beautiful images also managed to communicate the grave reality of the hardships that many Nepali families face to put food on their plates.

Sports

2nd U-19 ACC Women's Championship, Singapore
11 Countries participating
191 Number of runs by top-scorer and Player of the Tournament Nary Thapa
20 Overs played in the final, curtailed by bad weather
5 Wickets by which Nepal won the final
2 Number of times Nepal has won the championship

11th South Asian Games, Bangladesh
23 Events Nepal participated in
8 Gold medals won
9 Silver medals won
20 Bronze medals won
5 Rank in the medals table

16th Asian Games, China
140 Players
20 Events Nepal participated in
1 Bronze medal won

1st Women's South Asian Federation Football Championship
34 Total goals scored by Nepal
1 Solitary goal scored against the Nepali team
2 Nepal's position after losing to India 0-1 in the final

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