Not four but all roads in Darjeeling seem to lead to Chowrasta, the most famous promenade of the hill station, on the inaugural evening of the Darjeeling MELOtea FEST.

Chowrasta means the place where four roads meet.

“Today (On Thursday), all roads in Darjeeling seem to be leading to Chowrasta,” said Prawal Gurung, who had travelled from Kalimpong for the MELOtea fest.

The festival, one of the biggest carnivals of Darjeeling in recent times, kicked off with a unity march from Chowk Bazar to Chowrasta in the afternoon. But Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee virtually inaugurated the festival from Calcutta. Around the same time, she inaugurated the Christmas Festival in Calcutta.

Mamata’s presence at the Christmas Festival was beamed live at Chowrasta.

In Darjeeling, Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) chief executive Anit Thapa were present on the MELOtea FEST podium, along with senior administrative officials.

“The fest is a celebration that truly embodies the spirit of Darjeeling, our beloved queen of the hills,” said Praween Prakash, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling.

The principal organiser of the festival is Darjeeling Police.

Chowrasta was jam-packed through the evening and even though temperatures were as low as 6 degrees Celsius, the spirits were high.

“The festival is a testimony to our rich cultural heritage, our vibrant community and the unmatched beauty of our region,” said Prakash.

Mantra, one of the most famous Nepali bands based out of Darjeeling, lit the stage on fire.

A competition for singer-songwriters was also held.

MELOtea which is inspired by the words “melody” and “tea” is projected as a community development and outreach programme of the Darjeeling police aimed at promoting tourism, along with the region’s rich and famous culture and tradition.

The tagline of the fest is: “Tea, tunes and strings”.

The festival, however, is expected to go beyond the tagline.

“This year, we are featuring rock climbing, paragliding, river rafting, kite festival, bird watching and hiking as part of Darjeeling MELOtea fest,” said an organiser.

Efforts are also being made to promote village tourism.

This year, the festival is also being supported by GTA.

“Until last year, the Darjeeling Police and the GTA were holding separate festivals. This year, we decided to collaborate and make this event much bigger,” said Thapa.

The festival will end on Sunday with the Darjeeling marathon, which is in its eleventh edition.

Darjeeling-based Mantra band dazzled the audience on the inaugural day.

Kee Marcello, a former member of the Swedish band Europe, whose anthemic song, The Final Countdown, took the world by storm is slated to perform at the festival on Friday night.

Apart from Marcello, bands like Kathmandu’s Kutumba, Nagaland-based About Us and Sikkim’s Girish and The Chronicles will also perform.

The MELOtea FEST will also have English and Nepali band competitions with a whopping prize pool of ₹24.5 lakh. The first prizes in the competitions will be ₹6 lakh each. The first runner-up will take home ₹4 lakh and the third runner-up will be given ₹2 lakh.