The organisers of the Mysuru Shopping Festival have claimed to have recorded a turnover of over Rs. 120 crore from around 1,000 merchant establishments during the 43-day-long event that will end on Saturday evening.
The festival helped local businesses in Mysuru increase their turnover by around 30 per cent, with 344 prizes including four cars, five two-wheelers and 86 gold coins of 4 gram each were given to shoppers as part of the lucky dip.
Festival chairman B.S. Prashant told The Hindu that they were unable to reach the target of Rs. 150 crore for various reasons such as the Cauvery dispute, which affected tourist inflow. “We are still tabulating the figures, but based on the number of lucky dip coupons, we have estimated a turnover of around Rs. 120 crore,” he said. More than 2.5 lakh customers shopped during the festival, he added.
‘Successful venture’
Describing the shopping festival a “successful venture”, Mr. Prashant said next year the festival will start five days before Dasara and extend till a day after Deepavali.
The festival began around 7.30 am on September 24 with actors Shruthi, Swetha Srivatsav and Amrutha shopping at the vegetable market on M.G. Road. The shopping festival, which continued through the Dasara celebrations, also featured live concerts by artistes like Vasundhara Das and Jonitha Gandhi. Apart from the weekend cultural programmes held at Dufferin clock tower, malls and Town Hall, student groups participated in flash mobs and took out bike rallies to promote Dasara as well as the shopping festival.
Actor Sudeep is scheduled to participate in a programme on November 6 at the Open Air Theatre in Manasagangotri to mark the conclusion of the shopping festival. It will be followed by handing over a Mercedes Benz to the winner of the bumper prize and a live concert by Kunal Ganjawala and troupe.
‘Event helped
local businesses in Mysuru increase their turnover by around 30 per cent’
