Andhra Pradesh: Landmark festivals sought
There is a growing demand from locals for the state government to take active interest in organising exclusive landmark festivals.
Visakhapatnam: There is a growing demand from locals for the state government to take active interest in organising exclusive landmark festivals at Vizag like Jaipur’s lit Fest, Goa’s GALF, Kochi’s Muziris Biennale, the North East’s several popular music festivals like Hornbill and ZIRO to promote the city as tourism destination and attract tourists that will help local economy.
These festivals can be art, culture, literary and music. “While the government is focussed on many issues pertaining to governance and ultimately a better life for the citizens, art, culture and literary pursuits are equ-ally important in community building and a way to showcase our state. Every country promotes festivals in some form. Be it the Dubai shopping festival, Singapore conducts many festivals annually including a night grand prix etc. Even countries like Vietnam and Malaysia conduct many festivals to attract tourists from around the world. Festivals are a great way to attract visitors from India and abroad and it can be art, culture, literary and music,” said Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) president A.V. Monish Row, who wrote a letter in this regard to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
He added that by definition, festivals attract visitors and visitors spend money, which boosts the local economy both on and off the festival site. “These events also boost the liveability of a place and attracts the right young job-seeker which presently is not the case. Such festivals, besides boosting tourism, will also act as an outlet for Andhra community who live elsewhere like Hyderabad to stay connected and contribute more to their native state,” he said. In the letter, he suggested that the festival requires to be attractive and packaged well and not the Visakha Utsav type of event.