Badnore to open Rose Fest today

Chandigarh, February 22

The three-day 46th Rose Festival will kick off at Rose Garden in Sector 16 here tomorrow. The Tribune is the media partner for the event.

UT Administrator and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore will inaugurate the fest at 11 am. MP Kirron Kher will be a guest of honour while Mayor Davesh Moudgil will be a special guest during the inaugural function.

There are 829 varieties of roses, over 1,400 rose beds comprising 42,000 rose plants in the garden. This year, various competitions will be organised during the three day fest, including best garden/roundabout/campus/parks maintained by RWAs, Rose Prince and Rose Princess competition, brass and pipe band contest, on-the-spot painting competition, quiz and so on.

Cultural evenings will also be organised everyday. Punjabi singers Kulwinder Billa and Gippy Grewal and Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari will regale the visitors.

Chopper ride: 50 tickets sold

Even before the Rose Festival got going, 50 tickets have been sold for the chopper ride, the main attraction at the fest for the second year in a row. Seats can be booked for the seven-seater chopper ride with Heritage Aviation Pvt Ltd. It will take off from the Parade Ground. The ride, which will be of seven to nine minutes, will cost Rs2,380 per person. There will be a provision of insurance of Rs50 lakh as well. — TNS

Day 1 line-up

• 11 am: Inauguration of Rose Festival by the chief guest
• 11.10 am: Brass and pipe band competition
• 11.15 am: Flower and flower hat competitions
• 11.25 am: Cultural programme at main stage by various artistes arranged by NZCC
• 12.30 pm: Folk dance competition
• 3.30 pm: Miss & Mr Rose competition
• 5 pm: Cultural evening (Old is Gold)