Dates: 1-15 February 2016
Timing: 10 am to 8 pm
Tickets: Available at the counter as well as online
Price: INR 80 weekdays and INR 120 Sat/Sun

Every year from February 1–15, this colorful traditional craft festival of India is held in the vicinity of Surajkund. Traditional craftsman (artists, painters, weavers and sculptors) from all parts of the country participate in this annual celebration.

Additionally there are cultural programs and regional food stalls. The fair is held with a different theme every year, mostly focusing on a particular state. The fair is visited by lovers of arts and crafts from all over the world.

Colorful, kitschy and crowded – Surajkund Mela includes international participation from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and so on.  This is perhaps the only fair in the country where a mind boggling variety of crafts from most corners of India, and some other parts of the world, are available at the same venue.

Over the years, the fair has shed its puritan craft specific character and has developed a general appeal.  Somewhere there is a compromise, but the changed approach has led to swelling visitors whose enthusiasm can not but permeate the mind and uplift the spirit.

This is one end winter ritual that Delhi does not want to miss.  However to avoid long traffic snarls and tremendous parking woes, it is advisable that one visits this fair on a week day.