The Hindu : Front Page : Fair aims to attract 25 lakh visitors

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Front Page

Fair aims to attract 25 lakh visitors

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: R. RAGU

hectic preparations: Artists at work on Island Grounds in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: With only a week left for the inauguration of the ‘India Tourist and Industrial Fair – 2008,’ Island Grounds, the venue, is sporting a vibrant and pre-festive look.

The 34th edition of one of the biggest fairs of the city, to be inaugurated on December 31, will be on for nearly over two-and-a-half months, a senior Tourism and Culture Department official told The Hindu on Tuesday.

With hundreds of sculptors and other artists working on a stall for each of the State government departments, the usually empty Island Grounds is transforming into an artistic space that will host lakhs of visitors in the coming weeks.

“We are building a temple with materials like wood and Plaster of Paris. We want to give the feel of a real temple,” said sculptor C. Ramalingam. The Tourism and Culture Department is targeting 25 lakh visitors this year, almost double last year’s tally of 13 lakh. The police department has been provided 70 x 50 space for stalls on the Central Crime Branch (CCB), Traffic, Video Piracy and Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB).

They plan to display cartoons cautioning the public about tricksters indulging in white collar offences. The traffic police will highlight the advantages of wearing helmet.

The CCB police have printed a 10-page booklet for free distribution. It would have ‘Dos and Don’ts’ on purchasing an immovable asset and information on spotting the differences between a genuine and forged document. Cultural programmes featuring classical and folk arts have been planned.

Contests such as debates and elocution and a huge book stall are the new additions this year. A special celebration would be held during Pongal.

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