The Mussoorie Mountain Festival was held from May 18th to 20th 2017 at Woodstock School and was organised by the Hanifl Centre , The Hanifl Centre ws set up in 2003 to extend the school curriculum and activities of Woodstock. The Centre gives the children an opportunity to learn about the Himalayan environment and enhance their skills and knowledge in Outdoor Education.
The festival hosted a galaxy of speakers from across the globe and the action packed three days were enjoyed by all the speakers as well as the students, staff of Woodstock School and the other visitors to the festival.
The festival opened with a 90 minute screening of outstanding films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival which left the audience spellbound. Amongst the notable presentations were mountaineer Martin Moran on Exploring New Peaks in the Garhwal and Kumaon, South African Deshun Deysel on how climbing Everest saved her life, conservationist Daniel Taylor on the myth of the Yeti and Michael Benanav on the migratory Van Gujjar tribe.
The festival also hosted two exhibitions: Nepal Himalaya – A Journey Through Time by Sujoy Das and Himalaya Bound – A Journey with the Nomads of North India by Michael Benanav.
Veteran mountaineer Chandra Prabha Aitwal, who named Nanda Devi as her most memorable summit, was felicitated by Deshun Deysel and Rita Gombu Marwah (seen in the photo on the left) along with Hanifl Director Krishnan Kutty. The excellent organisation and sumptuous meals left both the speakers and the audience looking forward to the next Festival.
Here are some of the photographs from the festival
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| Martin Moran speaking with Nanda Devi on the slide |
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| From left: Rita Gombu Marwah, Deshun Deysel, Chandra Prabha Aitwal and Krishnan Kutty at the felicitation of Chandra Prabha Aitwal |
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| Sujoy Das speaking on Mustang |
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| Michael Benanav's exhibition on the Van Gujjar tribe |
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| Daniel Taylor speaking on the yeti |
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| The Nepal Himalaya exhibition panorama
For more details on the Mussoorie Festival do visit http://haniflcentre.in/mussoorie-mountain-festival/
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