GOPALPUR BEACH FESTIVAL KICKS OFF

Odishabarta

Mission Shakti stalls, Pallishree Mela, Main atractions of the festival.

Gopalpur Beach Festival, the biggest cultural extravaganza of south Odisha, was inaugurated by Odisha Legislative Assembly speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha on Saturday. The five-day festival, which will conclude on December 28, is being organised at the sea town of Gopalpur after a gap of two years. People from within Ganjam district and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh visit the town for the festival during which cultural troupes from across the country enthral the audience with their performances, said collector Dibyajyoti Parida.

Mission Shakti stalls, Pallishree Mela, Meena Bazaar, Biju Patnaik Manoranjan Park and various other exhibitions are the other attractions of the festival. Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M said while 32 CCTV cameras have been installed at the festival venue, 15 platoons of police force are deployed to maintain order.

Among others, minister Srikant Sahu and Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu were present in the inauguration ceremony.

Meanwhile, police detained an 18-year-old youth for spreading rumours of availability of tickets for the festival on OLX. The youth, a resident of Jail Road in Berhampur is mentally unsound and had created an ID on OLX in which he put up VIP passes for the festival on sale. The youth’s house was searched and no tickets were found, said the SP. He said the boy was handed over to his relatives.