Preparations are afoot for the Belum Caves Utsavalu - 2020, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday.
The caves have been decked up for the festival, with the government allocating about ₹1 crore for the event. Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao will attend the event as chief guest.
The festival was supposed to be held in December last year. However, as the dates clashed with Visakha Utsav, authorities postponed the event to February.
District authorities expect that the festival would help Belum Caves gain popularity. The caves are the longest cave system open to the public. There is also a significant history behind these caves, with scholars claiming that Buddhist monks used to pray in the caves centuries ago.
District tourism officials said that local artists are being given priority in the event. “We are trying to promote local arts and culture through the festival,” said B. Venkateswarlu, District Tourism Officer.
Mr. Venkateswarlu added that the authorities are also trying to promote local cuisines. “We will be setting up food stalls which would serve local food to the people,” he said.
Apart from the Ministers, MPs, and MLAs, the district authorities are also inviting celebrities to lend a dash of glamour to the festival. “We are in talks with popular Telugu comedians and have tentatively added them to the list,” the tourism officer added.
