PUDUCHERRY: Want to have an exciting weekend during the Tamil New Year? Head to Puducherry's old French town for a four-day festival on five beaches. Organised by the Department of Tourism, the fete will be held from April 13 to 16.
The festival will host a plethora of events during the long weekend, said Puducherry PWD Minister K Lakshminarayanan who also holds the Tourism portfolio. The events will be held at Marina Beach, Veerampattinam Sandunes Beach at Pudukuppam, Paradise Beach at Chunnambar, Ruby Beach at Vamba Keerapalayam and Eden Beach at Chinna Veerampattinam which has been certified as Blue Flag Beach. It will also be held at Gandhi Thidal.
Briefing mediapersons at a press conference on Tuesday with Secretary Tourism A Nedunchezhiyan and Director of Tourism P Priyadarshini, Lakshminarayanan said that one of the attractions will be the sunrise fish tour. Tourists will be taken to the sea to participate in fishing activities and on their return, will be served delicacies cooked with the catch.
Another highlight of the festival will be the cycle marathon from Kalapet to Puducherry at 6 am on April 14. Other programmes will include cultural events, water sports, western music and dances, catamaran race, beach volleyball, kite flying, fashion show, a sand art exhibition, seashell jewellery workshop, bamboo instrumental music, Uriyadi (pot breaking during Krishna Jayanthi), sky lantern display and a seafood festival, said the minister. The government also proposes to celebrate 'Ugadi' and 'Vishu' every year. Participants can register at: http://Puducherrytourismevents.com.
According to Lakshminarayanan, Puducherry has been rated as a top weekend destination with tourists from Karnataka, TN and Andhra Pradesh thronging the UT on weekends. This has to be stretched to weekdays too and tourism revenue which was lost due to Covid-19 is getting restored, he said, adding efforts are being taken to enhance it further. The beach festival is an initiative in this direction, he explained.
With these events lined up, travellers at Puducherry Beach could be attracted to other beaches too, which will help in decongesting the Promenade and the main town area, said Lakshminarayanan. A promotional video was released on the occasion to publicise the event.
The beach festival will be inaugurated at 6.30 pm on April 13. Lt Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister N Rangasamy and other ministers will take part.