The Bekal International Beach Festival, which will begin from December 24, is creating huge buzz with more than two lakh tickets already being sold out.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the 10-day festival that captures the wholeness and the essence of the district’s cultural and artistic uniqueness and displays the rich cultural diversity and grandeur of the country, at 10 a.m. at a function to be held at the Bekal Beach Park.
The festival, which also aims at revitalising the district’s development by showcasing its potential, will offer a feast of cultural and musical nights, along with food festivals that capture the cuisine of Kasaragod, beach sports, exhibitions, and tour programmes. Tourists from different parts of the world, especially from the Arab world, are expected to swarm and relish the event
The festival is organised by the Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC) in association with the District Tourism Promotion Council, Kudumbashree, Asmi Holidays, and the local self-government bodies in the district.
The organisers said that the festival tickets are in digital form with QR code and are sold through Kudumbashree and Cooperative banks. The ticket charges are ₹50 for adults and ₹25 for children. Around 2 lakh tickets have already been sold out and the 10-day festival is expecting a footfall of around four lakh people.
A host of famed artists including the likes of Nooran Sisters, Sithara Krishnakumar, Vidhu Prathap, Shabnam Riyaz, Mohammed Aslam, Praseetha Chalakkudy, Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar, and Stephen Devassy, among others, will perform during festival days, daily from 7.30 p.m.
The other events to be staged on various days include helicopter ride, robotic show, kite fest, flower show, sand art, water sports, bridal fashion contest, beauty cutie-kids fashion show, national business trade expo, B2C FLEA Market, edu expo, automobile expo, and an aqua show.
Over 1,000 international, national and local artists will perform at the beach festival, while eminent personalities like Cuban envoy Alejandro Simancas Marin are expected to grace the event.
A special tour package named ‘Yathrashree’ is made available for tourists through Kudumbashree to explore exotic tourist destinations in the Kasaragod district. The tourists will have an opportunity to experience the traditional foods of Kasaragod as well as the arts of Theyyam, Alaamikkali, and Yakshagana.
The Bekal Fort has been attracting tourists from all over with the weekend footfall reaching up to 10,000 to 15,000. Sand art will be held on the shores and more than 100 selfie points have been created to capture the moments from the festival
Parking facility will be provided in 12 parking slots on 20 acres within the circumference of 300 meters of the beach. The education expo will have participation from various educational institutes from all around the world. Also, a medical expo will exhibit advanced medical equipment and treatment methods.
