History :
The First Puri Beach Festival was inaugurated by Late Sri Biju Pattnaik the colossus personality and a great dynamic leader of Odisha along with Gulam Nabi Ajad, union minister for tourism on 29th October, 1993. Being the first beach festival of the country, the Puri Beach Festival is a brand that stands out in the calendar of fairs & festivals of India.
Puri Beach Festival is the largest viewing beach festival & is a perfect blend of art, craft, culture, cuisine, & sports leaving you with a taste that lingers.
A taste for which you would yearn to come back to savor. A brand that makes every viewer pleased. The festival offers you the best cultural evening with the best of performers from classical, folk & contemporary dance forms along with traditional sports like beach volleyball, Kabadi, Malkhamb including Sand Art & regatta etc. everyday. This is the only beach festival of the country being organized by Hospitality Industry entrepreneurs i.e. Hotel Association of Puri (HAP) in association with, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, Deptt. of Tourism & Culture, Govt. of Odisha, EZCC, Song & Drama Division, Kolkata and ICCR, New Delhi.
The objective of the festival is to present the art, craft, culture, sports, tourism and cuisine of the state along with other states on a single platform. This festival is a unique event to highlight the rich culture and heritage of Odisha at National and International levels. On the other hand, the festival promotes national integration, harmony, peace, cultural amity and international brotherhood in a beautiful manner through cultural cohesion.
The Hotel Association Of Puri
The Hotel Association of Puri (HAP) was established in the year 1983. The main objective of HAP interalia other things is to promote the tourism potential of Puri in particular and the state in general and in the process the Puri Beach Festival over the years has become a prominent event which galvanizes all the activities related to the promotion of tourism & culture of our state as well as country. It is doing a tremendous work for the growth of tourism & Hotel Industry at Puri and specially for the development of the golden beach of Puri which attracts lakhs of visitors from across the country and abroad every year.
