SALEM: The 49th Yercaud Summer Festival and Flower Show commenced at Anna Park in Yercaud on Friday, with elaborate floral arrangements, colourful themed displays, and exhibition stalls, attracting a huge number of tourists and visitors. Salem Collector K Elambahavath inaugurated the seven-day festival (till May 28), in the presence of legislators P Usharani (Yercaud), S Lakshmanan (Salem West), and M S Palanivel (Veerapandi).
The flower show, organised by the horticulture department, featured over 2.07 lakh flowers arranged in a wide range of decorative themes designed to attract visitors of all age groups. Among the highlights is a miniature farm designed entirely with flowers, featuring a farmer, plough, and a cattle arrangement made using nearly 90,000 roses, making it the single largest floral display at the festival.
Other major attractions included a giant teddy bear made of 40,000 roses, a Bharatanatyam dancer structure designed with nearly 12,000 roses, and a fairy-themed floral arrangement prepared using around 10,000 roses. More than 30,000 flowers, arranged in colourful pots, were also displayed across various sections of the Anna Park.
Besides, several government departments set up exhibition stalls at the festival grounds, showcasing welfare schemes, awareness initiatives, and departmental activities. Exhibition halls representing various departments, including forests, health, agriculture, and food, were also established.
With the ongoing holiday season and the extensive arrangements, officials expect the number of visitors to exceed last year's turnout of 1.16 lakh. Meanwhile, the Salem division of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) announced special bus services to Yercaud for the duration of the festival. Officials said while 12 buses are usually operated daily to Yercaud, an additional 32 special buses have now been introduced, taking the total number of services operating to the hill station to 44 during the festival period.