Puri Beach Festival -The Grand Carnival

The Puri Beach Festival is an out and out moment of fun, joy and excitement. The Beach festival is organised by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa (HRAO). The festival is a celebration of Orissa, in all its beauty, charm and fun-loving spirit. The festival is celebrated annually in early November in Puri. Orissan craft, cuisine and cultural evenings are the highlights of the event. Other events range from fashion shows to rock shows. The Puri Beach festival proves to be a great delight for all the visitors and guests alike. The spectacular beach festival is held on the mesmerising beach at Puri. The fiesta offers a unique opportunity to its visitors to communicate with the local populace and enjoy the awe inspiring rainbow colours and charms of Orissa.
Puri beach Festival - A Fun Lovers Feast
The beach festival is is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the Department of Tourism, Government of Orissa, Development Commissioner of Handicrafts and the Puri Beach Festival Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Calcutta. The festival for continuous five days bedazzles the tourists and art lovers with its charismatic mix of classical and folk dance from every nook and corner of India. This festival also showcases sand art, handicraft and a number of cultural programmes.

This grand celebration at Puri, for the last 12 years has been witnessing a tremendous rise in the number of domestic and foreign tourists. Its fame has acquired an crossed all territorial boundaries and has earned international recognition. It was rightly said by J K Mohanty, Chairman of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa ( HARO ) - “ The most important aspect of the festival is to set a revival process for the dying art and tradition and showcase them to the international community… Lot of international artists are interested to participate in the festival and the tourism and cultural department is making arrangements to make it an international event from next year.”

The Puri Beach Festival offers a kaleidoscopic view of Orissa's cultural heritage and modern lifestyle. It is slightly modelled on the Goa Festival but the Puri Beach festival has it own energy and positive vibes that will make you lose yourself in the heavenly ambiance of Puri.

Rock your heads with the tunes of Metallic and Black Sabbath and tap your feet to the local numbers; feast on the cuisines of Orissa and that of India as a whole and shop for souvenirs at the handicrafts stores; or attend a Odissi, Lepcha or Lambadi dance performance and dance on the beach till the break of dawn and feel proud on the resonating chorus of Vande Mataram.

Facts
Place - Orissa
Starts - Early November
Finishes -November
Organised By - Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa (HRAO).
Best Season to Visit - October to March
Local Transport - Three wheeler rickshaws and cycle rickshaws.
Getting There
Puri is well connected by Air, road and Rail.
Air - Bhubaneshwar is the nearest airport. Indian airlines offer flights from Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderaba, Chennai, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Nagpur etc.

Rail - Puri rail head is well-connected with Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Tiruvanantapuram and Tirupati etc. Bhubaneswar (60 Kms) railway station is very close to Puri, it is linked to many major cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi etc.

Road - Puri is connected by State highway with Bhubaneswar (60 Kms). Regular bus services connect Puri to Bhubaneswar and other nearby places.