Puri Beach Festival

18th International Puri Beach Festival to start from 23rd Nov 2012. This was decided at a high level meeting presided by  Tourism Minister Maheswar Mohanty at here.

   A preparatory meeting was held under chairmanship of Maheswar Mohanty, Minister Tourism, Culture and P&C in his Secretariat Chamber today to discuss and finalize the programme to be held from 23rd November to 29th November, 2012. Important exhibition, food stalls, beach sports, special boat race among local fisherman, sand art show, Helium Balloon Ride, Kite fly show, Camel Ride & Horse ride on the Beach, Meena bazaar & merry go-round, Bhagabat Katha discourse will be organise like last year. 

  Information Broucher will be prepared on different visiting places of Puri for distribution to public and tourist. Arrangement of tourist guide will be made this year. Minister Sri Mohanty told that there is a growing trend in the tourist arrival to the city Puri and Odisha during the festival due to continuity of the festival. The festival is brand festival of Odisha for the past 17 years without change of date, time & venue. Mahodadhi National Award, Mahodadhi Sammana and Mahodadhi Manapatra award will be given to the important personalities for their contribution to the society.

It should be noted that since 1993 the city of Puri is hosting the Puri Beach Festival founded by then chief Minister late Biju Pattanaik, he selected the name Puri Beach Festival. Today the festival adds laurels in its formal from a State festival to International Statute, only international tourist festival of Odisha. The biggest cultural show on a sea beach in India. Each day more than five hundreds artists perform cultural programmes for a period of seven days. Hotel association of Puri being the oldest and only organization of hotel & restaurant owners of Puri city, founded in the year 1982 is the chief organizer to the festival

Artistes throng Puri to participate in annual beach festival

 Indian and foreign artistes are actively participating in the five-day-long annual Puri Beach Festival.The festival is aimed at promoting tourism in Puri, which is considered sacred by the Hindus due to the famous Jagannath Temple."It's a nice feeling that exchange of culture is taking place at the festival. We are seeing the Odissi dance performance and audience would be watching our performance as well. Artistes have come from Kolkata and Punjab, so it s a good platform to meet artistes from across India and the visitors become aware of the variety of culture and traditions present in India.

The sunrise and the sunsets, and the local fishermen wearing wide brimmed cane hats with their catamarans are a welcome sight for the tourists. A ride on their boats is a dare devil experience. Since these fishermen are also good lifeguards, the risk during sail is minimum. Women in their traditional dress line the beach selling shell, wood and bamboo artifacts. Sometimes, amazing sand sculptures made by professional artists can also be seen on the beach. It is pleasant to take a stroll along the beach and to the nearby fishing villages along the coast. 

There are restaurants and shacks which offer fresh sea food dishes, and also several beach facing hotels and guest houses for stay near by. Due to the expansion of the surrounding commercial set ups, the conservation of the beach is not up to the mark in some areas. But, overall the beach is an ideal place to spend a holiday for its beauty as well as its religious sanctity.