Tourists visiting Mysuru during year-end can look forward to having fun with the district administration planning to hold a 10-day Winter Festival from December 23 to January 1.
Apart from the annual flower show organised at Mysuru palace and the cake festival, a slew of other attractions have been conceived.
“We want to brand the Mysuru Winter Festival on the lines of Mysuru Dasara,” Deputy Director of Tourism, Mysuru, H.P. Janardhan told The Hindu .
A dazzling display of fireworks at Mysuru palace, which added zing to the New Year revelry last year, is expected to be one of the main attractions of the Winter Festival.
Revellers can ring in the New Year in and around the Mysuru palace above whose skies a scintillating display of fireworks will be organised. “We will put up a digital clock for the New Year countdown,” Mr. Janardhan said.
Another event planned for the Winter Festival is an open street festival, which elicited a good response during the recent Dasara festival, providing an opportunity to the young and old to enjoy strolling on the vehicle-free D. Devaraj Urs Road. A number of stalls selling a variety of wares and eatables too had been put up on the road.
Open movie screening will also be held during the Winter Festival. “We will screen movies in open-air theatres during the festival,” Mr. Janardhan said.
Besides, heritage cycle rides — envisaging a tour of various heritage monuments in the city on a cycle— have been planned. Availability of cycles for tourists looking forward to be part of the heritage tour will not be an issue as Mysuru had recently become the country’s first city to have a public bicycle sharing (PBS) system. Under PBS, cycles can be rented to commute from one place to another.
Similarly, a doll exhibition will be held as part of Makkala Habba (children’s fest). “We are also discussing a proposal to hold a 3D projection mapping on the city’s imposing structures. A decision in the regard will soon be taken,” Mr. Janardhan added.
