Pune, Sep 6 (IANS): On the eve of Ganeshotsav starting Saturday, a leading organisation in Pune on Friday launched the first-ever Global Ganesh Festival (GGF) in a bid to boost tourism and create awareness all over the world.

The GGF-2024 kickstarted with a global summit attended by around 60 leading Ganeshotsav Mandals of Pune, officials of the tourism department, representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry, and foreign students studying here who would act as unofficial brand ambassadors to promote Ganeshotsav in their respective countries.

In the coming years, the GGF aims to compete with top events like the Rio Carnival in Brazil, Lantern Festival in Taiwan, Snow Festivals in Japan and China, the Bolivian Carnival, Desert Festivals in the UAE, Al Ula Skies Festival in Saudi Arabia, Mud Festival in South Korea, Tomatina Festival in Spain, Flower Festival in Colombia, Golden Eagle Festival in Mongolia, Balloon Festival in USA, Phuket Vegetarian Festival in Thailand, besides Wine or Beer Festivals in various countries which attract hordes of foreign tourists.

Jai Ganesh Vyaspeeth (JGV) member and chief organiser of GGF, Vaibhav Wagh, said that they would promote the colourful Ganeshotsav in multiple global languages online and offline to reach out to millions in over 100 countries where the Marathi communities celebrate the festival.

“We have organised an international competition for unique decorations which the devotees make to welcome Lord Ganesh every year. People anywhere in the world can register on our website, upload short videos, and the best among them will be selected and awarded attractive prizes next year by the Maharashtra Chief Minister, who will be the official host for the GGF,” Wagh told IANS.

Additionally, people in India can submit photographs or short reels of their tours/visits around Ganeshotsav marquees in the country, which would also be given prizes, plus.

A ‘Morya' Helpline and Ganpati Tours were also announced on the occasion.

GGF organiser Raghunath Kuchik, who is also the Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), said that more than two crore foreign and domestic tourists take rounds of the Ganeshotsav celebrations in Pune, Mumbai and other places every year.

“Now, we want to promote it on a world level by making it a ‘must-visit’ event for lakhs of international tourists who flock to various festivals in other countries,” Kuchik told IANS.

Kuchik and Wagh also said that a band of dedicated people like Satish Desai, Mahesh Suryawanshi, Shirish Mohite, Uday Jagtap, Anish Padekar, Vineet Pardeshi, Nitin Pandit, Dhanashree Wagh-Patil, Aniruddha Yevle, Yogesh Alekari and others have started to promote the GGF to reach the world audience, just like other global fests.

At the GGF launch, three foreigners -- Latoya Wild (Germany), a professional ‘garba’ teacher back home, Tobo Sabino (South Sudan), and Trish Mabika (Zimbabwe), both students of MIT Pune -- were invited and explained the details of the Ganeshotsav, Wagh said.