Patnitop winter carnival witnesses huge rush of tourists

Officials and tourists posing for photograph during winter carnival at Patnitop.
Officials and tourists posing for photograph during winter carnival at Patnitop.

Excelsior Correspondent

PATNITOP, Dec 31: The three day Patnitop winter carnival has attracted huge crowds since its inception till the last day today.
A large number of tourists from all over India, especially U.P. Gujarat, Kolkata, Punjab, Chandigarh, Karnataka thronged the main meadow at Patnitop and enjoyed the activities organized by the department during the three-day mega event.
On the concluding day, various games such as snow man making, sledging, live DJ, Cultural programme, Bon fire followed by cultural night was organized.
SSP, Ramban, Haseeb-Ul-Rehman, was the chief guest on the occasion while ADC, Ramban Harbans Sharma, and SSP Security, Civil Secretariat, Jammu, Yaseen Kichloo were the guests of honor on the concluding day of the Winter Carnival.
The carnival was organized by Directorate of Tourism, Jammu in collaboration with Patnitop Development Authority, J&K Tourism Development Corporation, Hotel/ Travel Trade Associations of Jammu, Katra, Bhaderwah & Patnitop and District Administration, Udhampur/ Ramban.
The three-day carnival coincided with the New Year celebrations amid snowfall season at Patnitop which is a major attraction for the tourists. The event was a confluence of local Dogri art, ethnic cuisines, cultural performances, run activities, snow games and adventure activities to engage the tourists and showcase indigenous culture with other engaging activities during the celebrations.
The festival was a major attraction for the tourists who visited Patnitop and enjoyed the beautiful snowfall with the Dance-Music-Adventure-Food fest.
The tourists appreciated the efforts of the Tourism Department re-starting the tourism activities in the region and making elaborate arrangements for celebration of the Snow Festival on New Year’s Eve at Patnitop.
The Directorate of Tourism, Jammu is also planning to organize more such programs aimed for tourism promotion in coming days. Pertinent to mention here is that this was the fourth event in the series being organized to create awareness among tourists and for the tourism promotion purpose.
The event was also attended by CEO, PDA, Sachin Dev Singh Jamwal, Dy. Director Tourism (Jammu), Anil Kumar Chandail, ADT NHW-Batote Dr. Umesh Shan amongst other officers/officials of the Tourism Department, District Administration and Patnitop Development Authority.