VIJAYAWADA: The first Pelican Festival hosted by Andhra Pradesh Tourism department at Atapaka Bird Sanctuary took off on a colorful note on Sunday. The officials have made elaborate arrangements to attract tourists for the ‘Pakshula Panduga’ and organised various cultural activities to entertain the tourists. Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya inaugurated the festival. Speaking on the occasion, Akhila Priya said, “Pelican bird festival is one of the very prestigious projects taken up by the Tourism Department and we aim to celebrate it and make the sanctuary famous in the world. In future we will make elaborate arrangements to celebrate the festival for three days with various activities.”
Tollywood actor Venkatesh said that the festival was organised very beautifully. “This kind of nature festival is much needed to lift the spirit of people. Pelican is a beautiful bird and seeing them in hundreds, flying across Kolleru lake is a beautiful sight to behold.
I am very privileged to take part in this festival.”
Over 5,000 pelicans from countries like Nigeria, Russia, Australia, Africa, etc., reach Kolleru lake by travelling over 3,500 km. These birds will visit the lake, breed and fly back with their young ones during winter. The bird sanctuary at Atapaka was well decorated.Sporting events, rangoli competitions, food festival, and all traditional music and dance performances captivated the tourists.