India International Trade Fair 2016 is on.

The organisers have taken a lot of steps to attract buyers to IITF. Tickets have been marked down and online tickets for trade fair are easily available.

Purchase online tickets for Trade Fair 2016

When we visited the fair last Saturday,  the first day for general public, we missed the huge turnout that we see on weekends other years. It was only as crowded as on a business day. The stall holders complained that there was very little trade. There were few business enquiries and even fewer purchases for them. The recent demonetization drive has clearly hit this fair badly. The low footfall and even lower sales are greatly disturbing the smaller vendors who have come from all over India and neighbouring countries with choicest ware. While some of them are accepting electronic payment through Paytm, this is still not enough to encourage business.

To stand by our guest traders and/or to just have a great outing, do consider visting the Trade Fair.

5 things that you can look for at the IITF 2016 –

1. The theme for this years Trade Fair is “Digital India”. Various smart and attractive sculptures / installations have been placed throughout the fair to commemorate this theme.

2. The state pavilions are back in full glory. While all of them vie for attention, our personal favorite this year is the Himachal Pradesh pavilion. The facade is an intelligent fusion of the theme of this years Trade Fair – “Digital India” on the backdrop of Himalayas.

3. The fruit halwa at the Kerala pavilion is a colourful and tasty dessert. It is heavily flavoured with ghee and the sticky texture makes it a fun food for children. We also loved the egg soya rice cakes at the Mizoram stalls in the Khadi pavilion. Sticky and mildly sweet, its a great side with tea / coffee.

4. The various state pavilions as well as halls like Khadi, Hunaar Haat and Saras have a very rich collection of all varieties of handloom and printed material. The fair is a lovely resource for traditional Indian wear for men – women – children.

5. A trip to the Trade Fair is never complete if you do not visit the foreign participants who are mostly concentrated in Hall No. 18. South Korea being the partner country has a standalone pavilion.