Visakhapatanam :

What can be more fun for Vizagites than ushering in the New Year on the beach to the sway of salsa beats in true Latin American style? With the city bouncing back to normalcy after the prolonged Samaikyandhra agitation, denizens are willing to give troubling division thoughts a rest and are gearing up to welcome 2014 with full gusto and city hotels are going all out to woo revellers with an entertaining mix of dance, music and food under the stars on the beaches.

This is proving to be a big hit with several Vizagites, especially the family crowd, who have preferred to stay put in the city during the New Year instead of venturing out of station as winter holidays have been curtailed by many educational institutions to make up for lost classes during the Samaikyandhra agitation.

While Park Hotel is organizing its ‘Sin City’ bash, featuring South American dancers, DJ and gourmet delights, on the beach, Palm Beach Hotel is organizing open air sea deck events. “We have decided to transform the beach into a dance floor this year. There will be salsa, pole dance apart from Bollywood dancer Hema Panchali’s troupe that will keep the audience enthralled,” said Park Hotel’s PR department official Vindhya Singh, pointing out that the response was better than last year.

In fact so good is the demand for New Year bashes that Palm Beach Hotel claims that most of its event packages are almost sold out. The hotel’s spokesperson Ravi Shankar said, “We have DJ Suman and a live band playing on the sea deck. Despite the steep price tags of up to Rs 3500 per head, the bookings have been selling like hot cakes.” While the Novotel Varun Beach is not really taking its patrons to the beach, it is making sure that they get a feel of being on the beach by organizing a `Dance by the Bay’ do at the Pool Deck replete with DJ, live singers and international artistes apart from ‘Fiesta Mexicana’ fest that will feature Russian dancers and a Bollywood troupe. And despite the steep pricing ranging from Rs 5,500-8,500 per couple enthusiastic Vizagites are lapping it up, claimed Varun Mehrotra, director (sales and marketing), Novotel Hotel.

At Waves, the Four Points by Sheraton night club, a DJ night will be the focal point of New Year’s eve, while at Sea Green, a fashion show along with DJ performances is on the menu. And even the strict deadline of 1 am laid down by the police for all public events has not deterred the organisers or the revelers.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam> Troupe / by Sulogna Mehta, TNN / December 31st, 2013