SRI NAGAR: In order to woo tourists to the iconic houseboats on world famous Dal Lake and Nageen Lake in Srinagar, a two-day houseboat festival is being held from Wednesday. Director Tourism Kashmir Fazlul Haseeb told this newspaper that the two-day festival would be inaugurated by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
There are about 950 houseboats in Dal and Nageen lakes and thousands of families are dependent on it for their livelihood. The houseboats are a major attraction of tourists in the picturesque Kashmir. The visitors to the two-day festival will be apprised about the history of houseboats and the celebrities who have stayed in them.
The major attractions of the festival will be an art exhibition and a photo wall on the history and historical aspects of houseboats. Other attractions include water screen projects with laser show, illuminated shikara carnival, shikara rides, food court among others.
Besides, live musical concerts and band performances by local artists and traditional folk performances would also be held. A record number of over two million tourists visited Kashmir this year so far and the houseboats in Dal Lake and Nageen Lake witnessed 80-90 per cent occupancy this year.
However, with the onset of winter and cold weather conditions, the occupancy has dropped in the houseboats. Kashmir House Boat Owners Association chairman G R Siah said that at present the houseboats have 20-30 per cent occupancy. Director Tourism said through the Houseboat Festival, they want to send a message to the tourists that Kashmir is truly warm in winters as well. The houseboat owners said had the festival been organized in October, it would have been more fruitful.