National street food festival comes to Noida, from Feb 2-4

Organised in association with SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India), the three-day festival will be held at Noida Haat in Sector 32, from noon to 10pm, the organisers said on Wednesday

Street food from across the country will be made available under one roof as part of a hyper-local street food festival in Noida called the ”Noida Utsav”, from February 2 to 4, said the organisers National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), which has been organising the National Street Food Festival in Delhi for the past 13 years.

Street foods ranging from aloo chaat, malai kebab, afghani kebab, tava chicken litti, malaiya makhan, and kesariya doodh to handicraft products such as carpets, khadi garments, tarkashi woodwork and terracotta artifacts, will be available for visitors. (representational image)

Organised in association with SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India), the three-day festival will be held at Noida Haat in Sector 32, from noon to 10pm, the organisers said on Wednesday.

“After organising the festival in the national capital since 2009, we have decided to bring it to other cities, starting with Noida, in order to widen our horizons and offer more opportunities to micro entrepreneurs. The Noida Utsav will not only include street food vendors from across the country but also handicraft artisans in order to offer visitors an experience of shopping and savoring street delicacies, under one roof,” said Sangeeta Singh, street food programme head, NASVI.

Street foods ranging from aloo chaat, malai kebab, afghani kebab, tava chicken litti, malaiya makhan, and kesariya doodh to handicraft products such as carpets, khadi garments, tarkashi woodwork and terracotta artifacts, will be available for visitors, she added.

Organisers claimed that the event will be a ”zero waste” food festival.

“This is going to be the first ”zero waste food festival” in Uttar Pradesh where no street food vendor will use any single-use plastic. We will provide all vendors leaf-based, wooden, and bamboo cutlery, and recyclable plastic containers. Every piece of waste will be segregated, and the organic will go for composting, while the package material will be sent for recycling. Materials that cannot be recycled or composted will be sent for up-cycling,” said Sanjay Gupta, a waste management expert working with the organisers.

Arbind Singh, national coordinator for NASVI, said the festival aims at promoting street food vendors at the national and international level to provide them better livelihood opportunities.

“Through Noida Utsav, street food vendors as well as budding artisans and performers will get a chance to showcase their talents. There will be 50 vendors from across the country putting up stalls at the festival. Panel discussions will also be held to provide training to micro entrepreneurs and make them aware about better market understanding, mudra loans, and other schemes of the government,” said Singh.