Mysuru looks to hook winter tourists

Mysuru: This December, the District Administration has been planning to host various events, including screening of a movie at Manasagangothri’s Amphitheatre, to attract tourists towards Mysuru during the Christmas holidays. By naming the programme as ‘Mysuru Winter Festival-2017’ (MWF-2017) and opening a separate Twitter account, @Mywinterfest17, the District Administration tweeted, “a thrilling and chilling winter festival is set to welcome all... Mysuru is calling...” The tweet added, “MWF-2017 includes a scintillating flower show inside the Palace premises, a mesmerising cake fest, heritage cycle rides, Makkala Habba and lots of fun... more...” The festival, expected to be held from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1, will feature 67 activities, including flower show, cake festival, cultural programmes, bicycle ride, makkala habba, 3D mapping on Mysore Palace and the screening of a movie in the open. At the open movie screening, the public can watch a movie on a huge screen, by sitting inside their vehicles or on their two-wheelers. The authorities are discussing on the list of movies to be screened, said sources. A flower show, having a large collection of flowers and ornamental plants, will be organised at the Palace. More than 10,000 flowering and ornamental plants will be on display. Similarly, a day-long ‘Open Street Festival’ will be organised at D. Devaraja Urs Road, like the one organised during the Dasara festivities by the Tourism Department, for the first time in Mysuru city, that got good response. The busy road will be made traffic-free on the occasion, and will allow the public to enjoy shopping, playing games and eating and drinking from food stalls on the stretch with leisure. Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep, speaking to Star of Mysore, said the District Administration has planned to host various programmes using its internal funds and award-winning movies will be screened at Kalamandira for which the list will be prepared soon. Tourism Department Deputy Director H.C. Janardhan said that flower shows and cake festivals have been organised on previous occasions also but as a separate entity. Now all the events would be brought under a single umbrella — Mysuru Winter Festival-2017.