Kathmandu February 17.

The World Nepali Literature Festival is going to be held in Dhangadhi, the capital of Sudur Paschim State, from February 26 to March 3. Coinciding with the Literature Festival, a food festival is also be organised here. The Sudur Paschimanchal Literary Society is organising the literature festival while Hotel Entrepreneurs Association Kailali is hosting the food festival. Preparations for the literature festival have been stepped up. President of the Sudur Paschim Literary Society, Ram Lal Joshi said the festival is being organised to familiarize all about the literature, art and culture of the Sudur Paschim (Far-west) region as well as to learn about the same from other places. More than 200 litteratuers from within the country and Siliguri, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur of India, Bhutan, Burma, America, Bangladesh, among other countries will participate in the literature festival. The food festival will feature 25 stalls offering local dishes. Preparations are also on to cook the phado soup, a specialty of the Sudur Paschim region, in a 1,000 litres capacity pot, said Kamal Bom, the Hotel Entrepreneurs Association Kailali president.