Mix of adventure and culture at Chikhaldara fest

AMRAVATI: The grace and grandeur of Chikhaldara, the only hill station of Vidarbha, is all set to beckon the tourists as preparations for the Chikhaldara Tourism Festival beginning Friday have been completed, said district collector Kiran Gitte.
Guardian Minister Pravin Pote will inaugurate the festival at 11.00am while Melghat MLA Prabhudas Bhilawekar will preside over.Amravati MLA Dr Sunil Deshmukh, who was instrumental in starting this fest between 2005 and 2009, will be the chief guest along with tourism and cultural affairs secretary Walsa Nair-Singh, divisional commissioner DS Rajurkar, Chikhaldara municipal chief Rajendra Singh Raghuwanshi, and collector Gitte.
A slew of activities have been planned over the three days of the festival whose star attraction would be the adventure activities involving parasailing, valley crossing, rock climbing, hot air balloon, trekking and safari using elephants, horses and camels. Cultural programmes to promote traditional adivasi art, folk music, adivasi folk dances, bamboo art will be the added features along with Melghat Marathon. The three-day festival will conclude on January 25 at 3.30pm in presence of state home minister Ranjit Patil and MP Anand Adsul.