Democracywatch organizes democracy festivals around different parts of Bangladesh in support of its awareness building activities on democracy, good governance, and human rights. The goal of these festivals is to spread the significance and implication of these issues within the people, specially the youths and women; introduce democratic norms and values, story, culture, heritage of mature democratic countries.

audience at democracy festival Chittagong

Till date Democracywatch organized four festivals. Between 3 and  5 May 2002 the fifth Democracy Festival was organized at Bogra, the central town of northern Bangladesh. The slogan of this festival was Empowerment of Women. On the first day of the festival a seminar was held on Democratic Process and Empowerment of Women.

Professor Nazmunnesa Mahtab, Professor of the Department of Public Administration, University of Dhaka, presented the keynote paper.  Political leaders, experts and other professionals from different fields attended the seminar. After the inaugural program,

Chief Guest Begum Khurshid Jahan Haq, Minister for Women and Children Affairs opened the stall exhibition.  Thousands of people visited the well-designed stalls.

EU stall at the festival in Bogra

A democracy rally was organized in the afternoon. Besides the stalls, Democracy Quiz Cell and Mukto Mancho attracted thousands of people from nearby places.

On the 2^nd day M Aminul Haque, Minister for Post and Telecommunication was present as the Chief Guest of the seminar on Effective Local Government Functioning. Representatives of international and national organizations participated in the discussion. On the 3^rd and final day Problems and Prospects of Agri-business in Bangladesh was the topic of discussion. It was presided over by Amjad Hossain Tajma, President of Bogra Chamber and Commerce. Personalities from politics, business, financial institutions were present in the seminar.

Open stage programme

Cultural program was another major attraction of the festival,

which was organized each day of the three-day Bogra Democracy Festival. Some famous movies and documentary films were also shown in the festival.

Minister for Commerce delivering his speech at Chittagong festival

In the closing session the Executive Director Taleya Rehman thanked the people of Bogra for their support and enthusiasm in organizing such a very successful festival.

Millennium democracy festival in Dhaka

The Bogra Democracy Festival get wide coverage by the media both print and electronic even by the monthly magazine of the United Nations Information Center UNIC 'DATELINE UN' in its May 2002 issues.