Mangaluru: Meenakshi Bannanje, president of Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC), inaugurated the annual Udupi Utsav at the Royal Garden Grounds here on Friday.

A mega exhibition and amusement events for children will be held at the venue of the utsav. The exhibition and amusements section would be open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The entry fee to the utsav is Rs. 40 per person. There is no entry fee for children up to three years. A large number of stalls have been put up at the venue of the exhibition.

The items which would be available at these stalls include home-use products, electronic goods, handloom products, chappals, bags, readymade garments, handicrafts, decorative items, calendar photos, and one-gram gold ornaments.

The food items available are: Rajasthani pickles, Chinese items, varieties of dosas, and other snacks. A food court too has been set up at the venue.

There are various items targeted at the children in the amusement section. The attractions in the amusements section include “Italian tur tur”, giant wheel, dragon train, zig-zag, hippo slide, boating, electronic train, dragon-slide, ulta-pulta, titanic, and caterpillar.

A Selfie Gallery is one of the major attractions of the utsav this time. People could take their selfies with the portraits of various eminent persons, including the former President late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, U.S. President Barack Obama and Bruce Lee.

“The CMC made a profit of Rs. 13 lakh from the Udupi Utsav last year. This amount was used for providing facilities at the Burns Ward at the District Government Hospital. We are aiming at making a profit of Rs. 15 lakh from this year’s event. This money too will be used for some welfare activity,” said D. Manjunathaiah, CMC Commissioner.

“We will be holding a Beach Utsav at the Malpe Beach. The dates are yet to be finalised. Normally, the Beach Utsav is a two-day affair, but this time we want to extend it to three days. We are planning to hold a sea-food festival during the Beach Utsav,” Mr. Manjunathaiah said.

Celine Karkada, Ramesh Kanchan, Janardhan Bhandarkar, CMC councillors, and others were present.