In the renowned beach town of Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district, the Gopalpur Beach Festival got off to a thrilling start on Saturday.
The five-day beach festival was launched by Speaker of the Odisha Assembly Bikram Keshari Arukh in the presence of Srikant Sahu, Minister of Labor and Employees State Insurance, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Member of Parliament for Berhampur, and other dignitaries.
Speaking to a sizable audience at the first event, the speakers applauded the district administration’s efforts to organise the festival. According to them, “Gopalpur Beach Festival is the best venue in the world to showcase our art, culture, and heritage while also assisting in the long-term survival of our artists and art.”
A sizable crowd, mostly from Berhampur and the surrounding areas, braved the winter weather to swarm Gopalpur to take part in the celebration, which was hosted there amid tight security along the golden sand beach. At least 15 police platoons, 35 policemen, and 12 inspectors were stationed at the festival to prevent any unfortunate incidents, and 32 closed-circuit cameras were set up to keep an eye out for anti-social behaviour.
The Gopalpur Beach Festival has 276 open stalls this year, and participants from 154 SHGs are displaying their goods there.
The festival featured a wide range of performances, such as Odissi, folk dance, and music by well-known individuals and ensembles from Ganjam and other parts of the state. Local performers predominated the festival’s opening day in large part.
The performances of classical dance by Saat Joshi, vocal song by Ananya Sritam Nanda, comedy by Pragyan and Shankar, and Sambalpuri folk song by Mantu Churia were the festival’s main attractions.
Prasanta Patnaik