Every year, the German consulate-general in Kolkata organises a German style Christmas market at its garden. This year on December 14, around 600 people attended the event, where inclusion and participation of NGOs and social enterprises was the stand-out feature. They put up stalls and sold products made by the beneficiaries and project staff
Photographs by Soumyajit DeyThe children had a gala time rolling around on the lush greens in front of the Christmas tree while the sudden appearance of Santa Claus took their excitement up several notches
The consulate-general staff also put up a stall where traditional German cookies, ‘Lebkuchen, Stolen’ were served along with the famous German sausage grill counter. The German sausages and pretzels were big hits amongst those present at the charity market
Mulled wine is also the highlight of the German counter. Along with the food and beverages available to the attendees were some handcrafted terracotta figures. The consulate-general also takes this initiative to give a chance to new and upcoming NGOs, especially women led organisations to be part of this event. All proceeds from a raffle contest and the German food counter were diverted towards a charity project
The day was filled with several activities like carols in English and German. A culmination performance by a Bengali folk group brought to the occasion by Banglanatak.com. Furthermore, a pottery corner and live ‘patachitra’ workshop were set-up this year for the guests and visitors to have a more inclusive experience of the art and culture on offer beyond shopping
This platform also provided the NGOs a chance to network and explain to the visitors about their work and several initiatives. Some of the NGOs which took part this time were: Cafe Positive, Shuktara Cakes, Hope Foundation, Silence, Opportunity Cafe, Women Friendly Society, artists from Bannangram village selling ‘kantha’ products