In a bid to ensure flower availability at cheaper price to all, State Governor Dr Qureshi has instructed the Horticulture department to promote kitchen and terrace gardens. He expressed this view while disclosing about the two-day long annual Spring festival, which is being organised since 2003 and slated to begin by February 22, in Rajbhawan on Friday.
On Saturday, Dr Qureshi will inaugurate the festival at Raj Bhavan at 11 am and will also release the first-day cover brought out by the Post & Telegraph Department to mark the occasion. The first day cover shows Kedarpatri (Skimmia laureola), a hill plant which has medicinal properties and whose leaves are consumed by the musk deer Ghinghaaru or Crateegus Crenulata, symbolic of the rich biodiversity of Uttarakhand, has been chosen as the theme of this year’s Vasantotsav. The spring festival will be open for the public free of cost in between 1200 hours to 1800 hours on Saturday and 1000 hours to 1700 hours on Sunday. On Sunday, the Governor will give away prizes to those who win contests at the festival. On both the days, cultural programmes will be presented by folk singers and dancers from 6 to 8 pm.
During media interaction, Dr Qureshi said that all efforts are being made to make this annual event more popular among the people besides making it multi faceted and socially relevant. Flowers are a divine gift and have great importance on many occasions of our lives, of joy as well as sorrow. They express love, respect and happiness. The event had grown beyond being just a flower exhibition and encouraged several other activities. It created an atmosphere of joy and togetherness and also gave opportunities to small flower growers to expand their sales.
He said that the floriculture in the state had grown from an area of 150 hectares to 1550 hectares. There was great potential of floriculture in Uttarakhand. The Horticulture and Food Processing department of Uttarakhand has been holding this festival for the past several years at Raj Bhawan. This was a great opportunity to highlight the culture of the state. Photography, painting and floral rangoli competitions would be part of the fest.