PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
The picturesque Lake Town Nainital is now gearing up to celebrate the Winter Carnival slated to start before the ushering in of the New Year. It will be followed by the New Year celebrations. With the festive season drawing near, bookings for hotels have already begun. With thousands of tourists expected to swarm in, the hill station is now being appropriately illuminated at the initiative of the Nainital Hotels and Restaurants Association.
NHRA sources said that the three-day Winter Carnival would be held this year principally for tourists, from December 23 to 25. It will showcase the uniqueness of Uttarakhand’s culture. While the Tourism department will announce the details of the programmes soon, the district administration will play a major role in this event. “Our organisation will provide significant support to ensure that the tourists enjoy the festive programmes to their heart’s content,” said a senior functionary of NHRA.
Meanwhile, the high-end hotels have drawn up attractive New Year packages to lure tourists from all corners of the country. These packages will include two-night and three-day events, featuring live music, DJs and Bollywood nights. Entertainment programmes for everyone from children to the elderly are included in the packages. Some hotels will feature Kumaoni folk songs and music and the gala dinner will feature dozens of delectable dishes.
Forty rooms have already been booked in advance at Namah Nainital, informed its cluster general manager, Medhatithi Bhattacharjee, adding that a special programme, themed on ’80s Bollywood songs, would be organised to welcome the New Year. Besides, Namah Nainital will be hosting a DJ night starting from Saturday. Admission is free while transportation to and from Mall Road will be arranged free for tourists. DJ nights will be held every Saturday.
The general manager of Shervani Hilltop Inn, Kamlesh Singh said that advance booking has already started. “We are organising live music while other programmes will be like last year,” he said.
The GM of Naini Retreat, D S Jina said that 10 rooms have been booked in advance. “Traditional music accompanied by Kumaoni musical instruments will be held to the delight of the music-loving tourists,” he said.
The president, NHRA, Digvijay Singh Bisht said that colourful lights would be seen around Naini Lake with electric strings. “We are going all-out to make the festive programmes, including the carnival, memorable,” he added.
