By Ramesh K. Dhiman , Chandigarh, Nov 30– Close on the heels of the recently-concluded Crafts Mela at Kala Gram that left the most demanding tricity audience fully charged, the three-day-long Chandigarh Carnival, organized by the Department of Tourism, UT, Chandigarh, that went to a throbbing start at the Sector 10 Leisure Valley here on Nov 28, brought a sense of Déjà vu at the closing ceremony today. The power-packed extravaganza of cultural and creative activity declared open to public on Friday afternoon, by UT Adviser K.K.Sharma, was a big draw with the enthusiasts thronging in their thousands from distant corners of tricity and elsewhere. This year’s theme of this mega event was ‘Clean and Green Chandigarh’.
With a view to make the event a huge success, the host went the whole hog to attract more and more spectators to the gala event, leaving nothing to chance. A glider was used for the purpose, which was the first of its kind. Bearing the big message in bold words, the glider was randomly allowed to float over the entire Carnival area for some 20 minutes, before it engulfed the entire city to drive home the ground message. Stalls were put up by the Sangeet Natak Akademy, Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh Tourism Centre and Le Corbusier Centre, Home Science College and Arts College, British Library and so on. A slew of events and exhibits were on display which kept the visitors enthused.
The carnival featured a variety of cultural activity, including a wholesome entertainment churned out by artistes from various local educational institutions and elsewhere. Then it was time for the Pollywood star and a stand-up comedian Rana Ranbir, a heart throb of millions of his fans, showed up and kept the audience in splits with his slap-stick comedy and rib-tickling punches thrown in to make it a power-packed performance of entertainment. Others who performed and stole the show with the renderings of their foot-tapping tracks, included Rimz J, Sarthi K Nishawn Bhullar and Bittu Bajwa.
The carnival turned out to be a wholesome fare of entertainment for the teeny-wheeny tribe of enthusiasts, who enjoyed joy rides on their hot favourite merry-go-rounds, musical swings and a surfeit of other joy rides that kept the tots on top of the world. They even had the godsend opportunity to go around the village riding a camel. Children had a date with their choicest amusement games at the venue. The fascinating feature of the gala event was that it had something for everyone, to say the least. Senior citizen too had a fair share of entertainment and cerebral games to try their hands on.
On date two, visitors thronged the sprawling village where a vintage car exhibition remained the cynosure of all inquisitive eyes, while photography exhibition too was much in demand. Visitors enjoyed rides in these jalopies and the specially-designed vehicles and battery-operated tourists’ carts prepared by the students of Arts College. Dance troupes from various parts of the region and the North Zone Cultural Centre artistes also performed during the day. Popular Punjabi singer-turned-actor-director Babbu Maan put the stage on fire with his hit foot-tapping numbers that he belted out one after the other, driving the hysterical crowd to shake a leg.
On the concluding day, the unprecedented rush of visitors continued to gradually rise through the day. The evening turned out to be musical soiree when renowned Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan took the stage and kept the historical crowd spellbound for hours with his sterling performance. He rendered the best of his hit Bollywood numbers which offered a fusion of musical colours and flavours.
Foodies had a field day every single day where they had a mosaic of mouth-watering dishes and delicacies to choose from at the food stalls put up by the CITCO, The Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management and University Institute of Hotel Management. Elaborate security arrangements were put in place by the dispensation to ensure smooth run of the eventval.