Bekal International Beach Festival to begin in Kasaragod from December 22

Mangaluru: The second edition ofthe Bekal International Beach Festival will be held at Bekal Beach Park, Pallikkara in Kasaragod district from December 22 to 31.

Buoyed by the success of the previous year’s festival which had witnessed 10 lakh visitors in 10 days, the Kerala government through Bekal Resorts Development Corporation Limited (BRDC), has made elaborate arrangements for the second edition of the festival, Udma MLA C H Kunhambu, who is also chairman of the organising committee of beach festival, said. 

Speaker of Kerala Assembly A N Shamseer will inaugurate the festival at a specially arranged venue in Beach Park on December 22. The art and cultural programmes of the festival will be staged at two venues, named after the prominent rivers ---Chandragiri and Tejaswini, Kunhambu said. 

The entry to the festival will be from 11am daily and the tickets are priced at Rs 100 for adults and Rs 25 for children. Visitors can enjoy different programmes until the night at the venue. The festival will also feature food stalls, commercial stalls and adventure sports, like jet skiing, banana rides, speed boats, bumper rides, Catamaran Rides, and quad bike rides on the beach along with giant shows, rock climbing, sky ride, zip line and sea bridge.

On December 22, a mega live music programme will be presented by Thaikkudam Bridge Musical Band. Also, there will be a Musical Fusion Trio show by Shiva Mani, Prakash Ulliyeri and Sharreth on December 23. On December 24, the musical feast 'Chithra Vasantham' by K S Chithra and the team will enthral the audience. On December 25, a mega musical event by M G Sreekumar and the team will entertain the audience. 

Kunhambu said that the dance night by Shobhana and the team will be held on December 26. Padmakumar, Dev and the team will render old melodies on December 27. A folk band by Athul Narukara will entertain the visitors on December 28. Mapilla Pattu by Kannur Sherief and team (Dec 29), a live musical band by Gowry Lekshmi (on Dec 30) will be held. A mega New Year night by Attam Kala Samithi and Thekinkad Band and fireworks on the shores of Bekal to welcome the New Year will be another attraction.

At Tejaswini, the second venue of Bekal Beach, various artistic performances by the Kudumbasree members and other artists from the district will be staged on all ten days.

About 30 acres of land has been reserved for parking vehicles and the Railways have permitted trains including Egmore, Parashuram Express and West Coast Express to stop at Bekal during the 10-day festival keeping in mind the convenience of the visitors.

Kerala State Road Transport and private buses will offer connectivity to Bekala, the MLA explained.