18th International Puri Beach Festival from Nov 23

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to attract tourists from across the globe, the annual beach festival at Puri sea shore will kick start from November 23, official sources said on Wednesday.The week-long beach festival which has been an annual event in Puri since 1993, would get additional flavour with introduction of certain new programmes.

"Each member of hotel association of Puri will offer special discount up to 30 per cent on room rent and food bills during the festival period," R K Das Mohapatra, the president of the festival organising committee, said.

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, bhagawat katha discourse will be part of the festival, tourism and culture minister Maheswar Mohanty said after presiding over the first preparatory meeting for the event.

Information brochures will be prepared on different tourist places of Puri. Arrangements of tourist guide will also be made, Mohanty said adding 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 has been a brand event of Odisha for the past over 17 years without change of date, time & venue," he said.