BHUBANESWAR: Two flagship events of the Tourism department - the Konark festival and international sand art festival - were inaugurated virtually by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Konark on Friday.The inaugural evening of Konark festival opened with an Odissi performance by Cuttack-based dancer Jyotsnarani Sahoo and her troupe from Soor Mandir. This was followed by a Bharatnatyam recital by Bengaluru-based artiste Praveen Kumar and his group from Chitrakala.
At the international sand art festival on Chandrabhaga beach, 114 sand sculptors from India and abroad are participating this year. This includes six international artists from Australia, Czech Republic, Russia, Belarus, USA and Sri Lanka. They will create sand sculptures on various themes every day. The festivals will continue till December 5. Among others, director (Tourism) Sachin R Jadhav, sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik, OTDC chairman Lenin Mohanty were present. The festivals apart, the chief minister also inaugurated the fifth edition of Eco Retreat at three more locations in the state on the day.