The Hindu Business Line : It's an Italian winter in Bangalore

IT'S not yet Christmas but Bangalore is in the grip of two unusual festivals. Take your pick: if the parks and streets are full of `Bangalore habba' to celebrate the local culture and spirit, you could try the Italians for a touch of the foreign.

Festa Italiana has returned to the city to showcase Italy's best brands, from food to fashion to films. In its second edition, on till December 14 this year, the Festa, according to its organisers, offers an informal cultural platform for Indians and Italians to meet and network.

Ultimately, the extravaganza is not just about culture but aimed at improving trade and business too, says Ms Ritu Mohan, Regional Manager of the year-old Bangalore office of the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IICCI).

"With the festival, we can only hope to further strengthen our business association across the board," says Ms Sanchita Ajjampur, Vice-Chairman, Regional Council of IICCI.

As part of the fare, the chamber is focussing on designing in Delhi and Mumbai, and on fashion, food and tourism in Bangalore.

Seminars will also cover intelligent manufacturing, industrial clustering and urban and automotive design.

Italian tour operators will be coming down to promote less-known southern Italian destinations such as Umbria and Perugia, besides favourites Rome and Venice. In return, Karnataka's own heritage site Hampi is on their map.

On the fashion front, the collections of designer Paulo Zegna of Ermenegildo Zegna fame will be presented at a show at the Park in Bangalore on December 12. For the first time in the country, the collection of another brand, Valentino's, will be on display.

The chamber has tied up with The Park in Bangalore and Chennai to spread out gastronomic delights and a taste of the best Italian wines. The cuisine from the northern Piedmont region will be on offer in Bangalore and an Italian chef is being flown in.

Such a cultural showcase has become necessary as new and increased trade exchanges and business tie-ups are happening between the two countries in leather and textiles, jewellery, stone and granite, even IT and software services, according to Ms Mohan.

The Festa, organised by the Italian Embassy, is to be an annual event adding new features each year.

This time, it has brought in fashion and films and gone beyond Bangalore and Mumbai to all the metros.

A film festival, the opera La Traviata, an interaction with best-selling author Beppe Severgnini, along with a peek at their theatre and jewellery, are also on the Italian menu.

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