BHUBANESWAR: From Patha Utsav and flash mobs to walkathon and musical evenings, a series of cultural events will dot the state capital for the next three weeks ahead of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention from January 8.
BMC sources said Patha Utsav, the famous weekend street festival of the city celebrated on Sundays, will make a comeback ahead of the PBD conclave.
While the first Patha Utsav of the season, initially scheduled to be held on the Master Canteen to Ram Mandir stretch of Janpath road in the southeast zone on December 22, has been cancelled in view of heavy rain, BMC officials said time and schedule for the next Patha Utsav events will be announced shortly.
BMC has planned celebration of the street festival on weekends till January 5 in which music, dance, quiz competition, skating, yoga, cycling and other activities will be organised with ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ as the main theme.
This apart, the civic body has planned flash mobs to offer recreation, with an element of surprise, to people at different public places. The events will be organised at popular sites as well as malls including Esplanade, DN Regalia and Symphony Mall, sources said.
The corporation will also organise ward-level activities like walkathon, jhoti and rangoli competition and singing events from December 23. The ward-level events, involving people from residential and slum areas, will be organised for the southwest zone from December 23 to 26. Similarly, it will be held for the southeast zone on December 24 and for north zone, it is December 26.
Scheduled to be conducted in all 67 wards, the walkathon will have participants walking with banners and placards greeting the Indian diaspora.
Municipal commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the programmes planned under ‘City Activation Activities’ will involve people from different walks of life including residents, students from schools and colleges as well as traders to welcome the Indian diaspora to Bhubaneswar.
Cultural programmes involving residential welfare associations have been planned at different apartments and residential complexes till December 24 while the ongoing ‘Bhubaneswar Vibes’ programme will also be held in different markets of southeast, southwest and north zones on December 23, December 30 and January 6. School-level activities involving junior and senior-level competitions in art, dance, debate, songs etc., will be organised for both government and private school students. The winners of these competitions will participate in the final round to be held on January 4.
Song, dance, standup comedy and ramp show competitions are also being organised for college students at university campuses. The competitions will continue till December 24, BMC officials said. The civic body has also planned cleanup drives involving market association and vending zone members across the city and will install PBD convention gates at their entrances ahead of the grand event.