BHUBANESWAR: The International Sand Art Festival, set to commence on December 1 at the Chandrabhaga beach, will have sand artist of international repute, Sudarshan Patnaik as the brand ambassador. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the State Government on Friday.It comes after reports on the event being organised sans Sudarshan, after the artist locked horns with the Tourism Department. Sudarshan had earlier been inducted into the committee formed to organise the festival. He had then advised the government to hold a national-level event before going global. The artist had also written to the Chief Minister over the issue. The festival, which would coincide with the annual Konark Dance Festival, will be a first of its kind effort by the State Government. The five-day event with the theme ‘Tourism linking cultures’ is expected to feature artists from 10 countries, including Canada and the US, apart from 20 sculptors from across the country. Tourism Director H S Upadhyay said artists from six countries have confirmed participation so far. “We have visited the Chandrabhaga beach and identified the plots where sand sculptures will be made. Tenders for cleaning the plots and other development works at the beach have been called by the OTDC,” said Upadhyay. Sources said the Government would pay the foreign artists $ 200 a day while their Indian counterparts will get Rs 2,000. This apart, the government will bear travel and accommodation expenses of all the participants. While there are no prizes for the international artists, the top three national artists will be awarded. While a prize money of Rs 1 lakh has been stipulated for the best sand art, the second and third positions will be awarded Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. Sources in the Tourism Department said a decision had also been taken to organise sand art festivals in other parts of the State on an annual basis. “Earlier, the festival was limited to Puri. This year, we decided to organise it along with the Konark Festival at Chandrabhaga, considering the large number of tourists who come from across the country and abroad to witness the Festival. Henceforth, we have decided to take the festival to other areas of the State to promote sand art and artists,” said an official.
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