Sea of Humanity Revels at Final Day of Beach Festival

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje/ Savitha B R
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (PS/CN)

Mangalore, Jan 23: The three-day beach festival organized by the district administration as part of ‘Karavali Utsav’ concluded at Panambur beach here on Sunday January 23.

The beach festival featured different sports and games, a food festival, as well as dance and music programmes. The boat race threw the spotlight on the local talent. Vidyarthi Sangha Bengre won the first prize while Mogaveera Vidyarthi Sangha Ullal won the second prize in the boat race. Panambur ACP M Puttamadaiah handed over the prizes to the captains of the respective teams.

The finals of the beach volleyball and throw ball tournaments were also conducted. The crowd itself was an indicator of the success of the festival. Traffic chaos, however, irked the public to a certain extent.

Earlier, various events like skating contest for school children, sand sculpture contest, and kite flying competition for teams from around Mangalore, were held at the beach.

The top five singers were given a chance to sing with Rajesh Krishnan, Chaitra, and Ganesh Narayanan who presented a music programme at 7 pm.

Some adventurous youngsters preferred to ride the high-speed mechanized boat while a few others preferred camel rides. Those who came with their family spent time on the beach playing in the water against the backdrop of the setting sun while others took a close look at the kites that dotted the skies everywhere on the Pananmbur shore.

Along the road leading to the beach traditional stalls selling utensils and other household articles, attracted a large number of women. The road was crowded and people had to park their vehicles more than a kilometer away from the beach. Many youth and children were seen buying and blowing balloons.

Speaking to presspersons, DC Subodh Yadav said that the district administration plans to bring in changes in the manner in which the beach festival is conducted next year. He said that they also had plans to extend the festival and to bring in changes in programming. Commisioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, AC Prabhulinga Kavalikatte, and Yathish Bykampady, convener of beach festival, were present.

Ismail Belthangady, who came to the festival with his wife and children, speaking to Daijiworld said that people faced a little inconvenience as it was very dark from the highway upto the beach (nearly a kilometre away). He said that lights along the path would have helped improve the beach festival which was really enjoyed by all.