Kites and Beach Football Light Up Kuakata as Two-Day Tourism Carnival Fills the Shore with Festivity
A kite festival, a children's drawing competition, beach football, traditional puthi recitation and cultural programmes are among the many events of a two-day tourism carnival under way at Kuakata in Patuakhali. Local residents and tourists from across the country are joining the festive mood along the shore and under a sky full of kites.
The carnival began at 4:30pm on Friday at Lembur Bon beach and will run until Saturday. According to those involved in the organisation, the programme opened on Friday morning with a beach football competition.
On Friday the sky above Lembur Bon beach turned colourful with kites of many hues. A children's drawing competition was held at the same place, where children used colour and brush on white canvas to depict tourist spots and historic and heritage sites. Their creativity enlivened the whole event.
Yasmin and Rubel, a couple visiting from Tangail, said they came to Kuakata mainly for the tourism carnival. Their daughter took part in the drawing competition, and the family also planned to join Saturday morning's marathon. In their words, a very good and splendid event has been organised.
Kamrul Islam, a tourist from Kamrangirchar in Dhaka, said he is close to fifty years old and that Friday afternoon's kite festival took him back to his childhood. He thanked the organisers for it.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat, State Minister for Planning Junaid Saki and Patuakhali-4 MP ABM Mosharraf Hossain, along with senior administration officials, attended the carnival's opening events.
After Friday evening, traditional puthi recitation — a fading heritage of rural Bengal — was held on the field beside the Fish Fry market on the beach. A concert featuring the country's star artistes followed, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Saturday, the final day, features a beach marathon, a pitha festival and other programmes. At the pitha festival, visitors will have the chance to discover local traditional foods.
About seven hundred members of the law enforcement agencies are on duty in Kuakata for tourists' safety, said Nazmul Hasan, inspector of the Kuakata Tourist Police region. He expressed hope that the carnival would be held peacefully.
However, local businesspeople said tourist arrivals have not matched expectations around the festival. Despite the large security presence in the field, there is some disappointment among traders over the turnout.
Many tourists have demanded that this tourism carnival be held every year. In their view, such an event can raise Kuakata's profile and add fresh momentum to the local tourism sector.
The two-day carnival will end with Saturday's marathon, pitha festival and remaining programmes. All eyes are now on a successful conclusion and safe participation by tourists.
