State to organise three major tourism events in East Godavari

Kakinada Beach Festival, Konaseema Festival and ‘Manyam Jatara’ will be held in Jan., Feb. and March

The State government is hosting one major event a month for the next three months in East Godavari district and the series of festivals would begin with the four-day Kakinada Beach Festival scheduled at the NTR Beach in Vakalapudi from January 12. Similarly, a four-day Konaseema Festival will be hosted on the banks of the Godavari at Muramalla from February 22 and the three-day ‘Manyam Jatara’ in the Agency area from March 26.

The idea is to promote the district in the tourism map and attract domestic and international tourists by making these festivals annual calendar events.

Announcing this after convening a meeting with the officials and local elected representatives here on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinarajappa said there was a huge potential to be tapped on tourism front in the district where there were several attractions for the tourists.

Saying the Beach Festival would coincide with Sankranti, Mr. Chinarajappa said arrangements would be made in the beach to celebrate Sankranti as well on a grand scale. Priority would be acorded to the local artistes to perform in all the three festivals and performances of reputed artistes would also be arranged.

Referring to the Konaseema Festival and Manyam Jatara, he said on the lines of the beach festival that was being conducted annually without fail, the two festivals would also become calendar events in the district from this year.

“These festivals provide a platform to display the rich culture of the district. Food stalls will serve exclusive cuisine of local flavours, while the handicrafts and handlooms of the local artisans will also be on display,” he said. He released the logo of the Beach Festival and called upon the officials and elected representatives to work with close coordination.

District Collector H. Arun Kumar, Kakinada MP Tota Narasimham, MLAs and officials of various departments were present.

CPI seeks white paper

Meanwhile, the CPI demanded that the State government publish a white paper on the expenditure and income sources of the beach festival. Secretariat committee member of the party’s State unit Ravula Venkaiah visited the beach and spoke to the reporters.

Alleging the misappropriation of funds was taking place on a large-scale in the conduct of the annual festival, he said that instead of making permanent arrangements, the officials prefer to make temporary arrangements and keeping change the venue every year only to spend more on the celebrations.