State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid on Thursday said Jatiya Pitha Utsab (National Rice Cake Festival) is an original and integral concept representing Bengali culture. And festivals like this should be spread all over the country, he added. "We plan to hold this festival at the district level in the future, and the upazila level as well." Read more: Art exhibition, Pitha Utsab held at FSA The state minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 10-day Sixteenth Jatiya Pitha Utsab organised by the National Pitha Utsab Udjapan Parishad and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) at the BSA premises in the capital. Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of the BSA and convener of the 16th National Pitha Utsav Udjapan Parishad 1429, presided over the inauguration ceremony. Dance maestro Amanul Haque was also present. M Hamid, cultural personality and president of the Jatiya Pitha Utsab Udjapan Parishad, joined the event as the main speaker. Read more: Pitha sales surge as winter nears Fifty stalls are showcasing more than 200 pithas (traditional cakes) at the 16th Jatiya Pitha Utsab, and the festival is open to all from 3pm to 9pm till January 28.

The two-day “World Peace Conference-2021” has come to an end with an art exhibition and Pitha Utsab, giving the participants both from home and abroad an opportunity to taste a variety of pitha (cake) before heading home. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury inaugurated the art exhibition and “Pitha Utsab” by cutting a ribbon at the Foreign Service Academy on Sunday evening. Read: Dhaka Declaration: Democracy, good governance, rule of law critical for peace, stability Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, leaders of the Foreign Office Spouses’ Association (FOSA), including its chief patron Selina Momen (wife of Dr Momen) and patron Ayesha Akhtar, wife of State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, were, among others, present.