Mangaluru : District in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai formally kicked inaugurated the beach festival flying the kite prepared by ‘Team Mangaluru’ that had the logo of the festival with laser show by the Department of Information and Publicity here on Thursday Dec 24.

After inauguration Mr. Rai said that, a lot of efforts had been put in to bring grandeur to the Karavali and Beach Festivals. the two events will henceforth be held on fixed days every year. He said the State government would like to involve more companies in conducting the festival. Mr. Rai said he would discuss with the New Mangalore Port Trust officials to ensure that the road leading to the beach was free of dust.

Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said the State government was spending Rs. 17 crore to develop five beaches in the city. The State had also sanctioned Rs. 35 crore for improvement of approach roads to beaches and facilities as part of cyclone management, he said.

Splendid ballet by Gujarati children and mouth-watering delicacies from Gujarat marked the beginning of the nine-day beach festival at the Panambur on Wednesday.

Children from Gujarati Samaj began the day’s programme with a dance to the tunes of ‘Jaya jaya he mahishasura mardhini’. They later presented a garba dance to the song ‘Rangilo Gujarat’.

Going well with this performance were the Gujarati delicacies such as ‘Basket Chat’, where small puris are filled with sprouts and pomegranate. There were delicacies such as ‘vegetarian hotdog’ and traditional milk shake ‘Thandai’. The popular dhokla and samosa were also lined up in the food stalls on the beach. Gujarati handicrafts and other traditional craft items were also displayed.

This was the first time dishes from other States were featured at the food festival on the beach.

There were two stalls with north Karnataka dishes such as jawar roti, ‘girmit’, ‘mandakki’, ‘junaka’ and the sweet dish ‘shenga (ground nut) hoolige’. The only sea food stall had the regional favourite ‘anjal masala fried’.