A number of cultural programmes and a flower show have been lined up for the three-day Visakha Utsav beginning on Friday. The beach road is the venue for all the events and the flower show will be held at the MGM Park site in the VUDA Park.
With hectic preparations and colourful lighting arranged for the utsav, the beach road wore a festive look on the eve of the utsav.
Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the utsav at 5 p.m. Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y. Sujana Chowdary, Panchayat Raj Minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Culture Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy are expected to participate.
HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao and VUDA Vice-Chairman T. Baburao Naidu inspected the arrangements for the flower show “Parimala,” with new capital Amaravati as the theme. It will be inaugurated on Friday morning.
‘Vedika’ for the endearing voices of ‘Vizag, Jatara’ for colour traditions, and ‘Sannidhanam’, showcasing the temples of the State are the main venues.
The programmes scheduled during the utsav include performances by Baba Sehgal and Shibani Kashyap on the first day, Geetha Madhuri, Karunya, Kalpana and Srikrishna and Carnatic rock band fusion by Karthik and team on the second day and Devi Sri Prasad live-in on the third day.
Special buses will be run from Chodavaram, Sabbavaram, Pendurti, Kottavalasa, Simhachalam, Kurmannapalem, Gajuwaka, Scindia, Parawada, Madhurawada, Tagarapuvalasa and Lankelapalem to Ramakrishna Beach and back, RTC Regional Manager Sudesh Kumar said.
The buses will ply to and fro till 9.30 p.m. and on Sunday would be run keeping in view of the rush expected. A special counter will be set up at R.K. Beach.
Later, Collector Praveen Kumar, who visited the main venue along with officials in the evening, said the district administration was fully prepared to make the utsav a grand success. He said kite festival would be the highlight of the utsav. He said local artistes were also being given opportunity to perform during the mega event.
