The state government’s move to have a fixed calendar of festivals and fairs in various districts on the lines of Singapore, Dubai fairs to attract domestic and international tourists have gone haywire.
After the Araku, Kakatiya festival fiasco, the tourism department has now postponed the Gandikota Heritage Festival, scheduled to be held in Kadapa from October 26 - 28 to January 4 – 6, following a request from district authorities who sought a change in the dates citing certain unforeseen circumstances.
Special chief secretary to the government, youth advancement, tourism and culture Chandana Khan okayed the request. “The government has examined the request of the Kadapa district collector and issued amendments for postponement of the festival,” she said.
The tourism department, after announcement of the tourism calendar in July, undertook drastic changes on requests from various districts.
Despite the revised dates, some of the festivals failed to take off as scheduled due to various local, administrative and other reasons.
The famed Araku festival in Visakhapatnam district, planned from October 15 to 21, was the first to be hit due to a flash strike by contract employees demanding regularisation of services, among other demands.
It was called off on October 17, forcing the tourism department to cut short the festival to two days from October 21.
The three-day Kakatiya festival, scheduled from Nov. 24 to 30 was also postponed to December due to protests by locals, including TRS MLA Vinay Bhaskar, over allocation of meagre funds. The protestors demanded allocation of Rs. 150 crore. It’s now the turn of the Gandikota Heritage festival.