The annual festival of Taj Mahotsav is held during 18th to 27th of February every year. The venue is Shilpgram, near Taj Mahal. The festival is an ode to the rich cultural heritage of Uttar Pradesh. Lasting for 10 days, the festival is an everlasting experience. The festival is a continous 10 days celebration, with artists from all over India showcasing there talent. Taj Mahotsav is one of the spectacular festival in India and is organized by Uttar Pradesh Tourism. Spring time is the time of the year when nature dawns all it's colourful grandeur and Agra bursts into colourful celebrations. For 10 days there is a sheer celebration of Uttar Pradesh's rich heritage of arts, crafts, culture, cuisine, dance and music. It is the time of Taj Mahotsava. There are festivities all around and Agra truly puts on the colours of joy and gets modified into one non-stop carnival. It is one of the major attractions for tourists, as it draws thousands of visitors to Agra from India as well as abroad. During the festival, Agra and Taj comes to a new life with heaps of activities. The whole place looks like a mini Uttar Pradesh market.
The festival invites best artists from all over India. The folk artists, musicians, dramatists and other artisans gather at the 10 days celebration and enliven the environment. Throughout the Taj Mahotsav, one can experience a profusion of folk music and dances of Bundelkhand, 'Nautanki' (Drama), 'Sapera' dance of Rajasthan, Lavani of Maharashtra, Kathakali of Kerala and other folk dance.
The whole place becomes a small market, where one can get handicrafts, antiques, woodwork, ivorywork and other speciality items of Uttar Pradesh. Exquisite crafts like marble inlays, wood carvings from Saharanpur; brass and other metal-ware from Moradabad; handmade carpets of Badohi; the blue pottery of Khurja; the Chikan work of Lucknow; the silk of Banares are exhibited during the Taj Festival. Cuisine
A main attraction of Taj Festival is the Food-festival, a gathering of the chefs and speciality cooks of Uttar Pradesh specialities. Mughlai cuisine is the main cuisine of the state. It has been localised by the villages and towns. Some of the major delicacies are the Mughalai items of Lucknow, Vegetarian delight of Varanasi, Non vegetarian delights of Lucknow and Agra.Satisfy your taste buds with the exotic cuisine's and delicacies prepared by some of the oldest exponents and the typical preparations from the interiors of Uttar Pradesh at the Food Festival here.