The three-day Visakha Utsav began on a colourful note with a variety of entertainment programmes, a carnival, opening of the Aircraft Museum to the public, classical and folk performances by artistes and a flower show on Thursday.
The entire stretch of the 2-km beach road, from R.K. Beach to VUDA Park, was literally chocked as thousands of students participated in the carnival from the YMCA to the main venue at RK Beach in the evening.
Folk artists, dressed in their traditional attire, performing ‘Tappetagullu’, girls in colourful costumes, dancing in the caravan, girls dressed in the form of goddess Durga and artistes performing tiger dance drew the attention of the tourists and visitors on the inaugural day.
Stilt artistes, some of them sporting royal attire and folk drummers, were a big draw among children and adults alike.
Youngsters were seen taking selfies and pictures with their mobile phone with the traditional folk artistes, who participated in the carnival in colourful costumes. Film stars Akhil and Kalyani and music director Anoop Reuben added glitter to the inaugural function.
The tastefully decorated main stage caught the attention of the crowd. The gold-coloured background and huge pillars with intricate carvings gave a majestic look to the stage. Children clapped in excitement as Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao pressed a button to mark the inauguration from the main stage, as flames erupted from various points specially made background and fire sparklers emanating from the steel frames on the stage, brought another round of applause.
Dr. Siva Prasada Rao said the objective of the three-day festival was to attract the attention of tourists not only from Andhra Pradesh, but also those from neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Describing Vizag as a ‘jewel in the crown of Andhra Pradesh’, he said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had taken keen interest in the development of Visakhapatnam.
Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao said that this year shopping festival with discounts and lucky draws and discounts at hotels was a new feature of Visakha Utsav. He said that many more festivals were in the offing in the city to promote Vizag as a brand at the State, national and international levels.
Marketing Minister Ch. Adinarayana Reddy also spoke. Hero Akhil, music director Anoop Reuben and heroine Kalyani and the team of the film ‘Hello’ regaled the crowd with their presence on stage.
Noted singer Hansika Iyer presented peppy numbers from Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films.
Popular TV anchor Jhansi compered the show. Earlier, during the day, kayaking and surfing demonstrations were given by members of adventure sports clubs to the delight of the audience.
