Revel in fun and games on the sea and the beaches of Digha and Mandarmani and get into a high spirited celebratory mood, let your hair down. Let the Barbeques and Fireworks begin! The three-day festival, scheduled to be held from February 14-16, is being organised by the tourism and youth affairs ministries and the Digha Sankarpur Development Authority.

A gate has been erected at the entry point to Digha and the beach and adjacent areas have been spruced up. In order to draw in a bigger crowd, the hoteliers association has decided to give a 50% discount to tourists who put up in certain hotels during the festival.

Digha Beach Festival 2012

About the Venue

Digha is West Bengal's most popular sea resort. It is located 187 km south west of Kolkata. Digha has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach extending upto 7 km in length and has gentle rolling waves. The scenic beauty of this place is charming and alluring. The beach is girdled with Casuarina plantations along the coast enhancing its beauty. These trees apart from beautifying also aid in reducing erosion of the dunes. One can view both sunrise and sunset at the Digha sea beach. The sunset and sunrise reflecting in the salty waters of the Bay of Bengal is something straight off an artist's canvas.

Highlights of the Event

Water Sports

There will be excellent facilities for water sports mainly at Digha, Tajpur, Mandarmani beaches etc. Tourists can enjoy various water sports, adventure sports and sea activities at Digha beach. A place called Tajpur near Digha is being developed as a major adventure-tourism spot offering a host of sports activities like water-skiing, para-sailing, water zorbing, snorkelling etc.

Water sports at Tajpur

Beach Sports

Various kinds of games, such as beach cricket, beach volleyball, kabaddi and all-terrain bike competitions would be organised on the 23 km stretch of hard beach along Digha and Mandarmani. Visitors can participate and have the time of their lives.

Sand Art

The art of internationally acclaimed sand artist, Sudarshan Pattnaik, will wow tourists during the Digha beach festival. Pattnaik, who is a Padma Shri recipient, says his ultimate objective is to create awareness and enthusiasm in sand art.

“Beside a kite flying competition, the main attraction this year will be the sand art of Pattnaik. The artist has already reached Digha and will start his work from today (Thursday),” Soumen Pal, the chief executive officer of Digha Shankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) said.

Sudarshan Patnaik

Concerts

Famous musical icons of Bengal - Nachiketa, Usha Utthup and Jojo, will perform live on a temporary stage built on the beaches. Apart from them, several artists of contemporary Bengali music, classical singers and dance troupes will also be performing at the event. There will be an exclusive Chhau concert at the festival.

Sea Food Festival

If adventure sports is not your thing, you could easily indulge the gourmet in you. There will be a seafood festival, where you could select your favourite sea fish that would be cooked in front of you for your delectation. Hilsa, Pomphret, Betki and Prawn would be some of the sea food Digha is famous for.

Other Attractions

There will also be fireworks shows every evening. Giant screens would be put up on the beaches, where critically acclaimed movies would be screened.

Fireworks at the beach, Digha Beach Festival 2013