Hotels get daring in arranging New Year’s Eve parties
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Variety was the buzzword as three major cities of Kerala — Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram — celebrated the advent of New Year 2008 at the stroke of midnight on Monday with music, dance and fireworks.
While television channels dished out non-stop entertainment beginning early evening for the home-bound, party-hoppers and the generation next had plenty to choose from at beach resorts, hotels, restaurants and clubs. Dancers from Russia, Brazil and Rajasthan and DJs specially flown in from Bangalore and other metros were on hand to regale revellers as the New Year dawned to the accompaniment of firework displays.
While some celebrated the New Year “on the move” on houseboats operating in the backwaters of Alappuzha, Kollam, Kottayam and Ernakulam, others literally danced their way to the New Year, mostly in pace with pulsating music from all corners of the globe. The New Year “spirit” literally flowed in abundance as the sun set on 2007.
Upmarket hotels, restaurants and exclusive clubs in the capital city and the famed Eve’s and Light House beaches of Kovalam had a rich fare awaiting the New Year revellers. Dance, music, fashion shows, magic shows, fireworks display and gala dinner were all there in the fare offered by hotels. The presence of a large number of tourists from all over the world, besides those who have come from the shivering North India on the famed beaches of Kovalam, was what made the revelry unique in the capital. Tourists preferred to usher in the New Year on the beaches or in the numerous restaurants dotting the Light House and Eve’s beaches at Kovalam. Clubs in the city have traditionally opted for cine artistes to present entertainment programmes for their members and their families and it was no different this time. To lure the merrymakers, hotels had come up with five hours of non-stop entertainment with rates ranging from Rs. 600 to Rs. 6,000 a person.
The Leela, Taj Green Cove, Muthoot Plaza, South Park, Residency Tower and Hotel Horizon were some of the hotels in kerala where the party-hoppers had a fun-filled New Year’s Eve. In Kochi, the main celebration was on the Fort Kochi beach and various clubs and hotels in the city, but the idyllic hamlet of Kumbalanghi had no mean share in the revelry, with its “Incredible india” campaign tag.
Adding spice
In Kozhikode, the Taj Residency had brought in a Brazilian dancer to add that “something special” to the celebrations. Revellers at the hotel got the opportunity to dance to the rhythms of saxophones, trombones, pandeiros, trumpets and shakers. Marie performed a combination of the Latin American styles as well as the Frevo and Carimbo. The celebratory mood seemed to have caught on elsewhere too, what with hotels in most towns coming up with attractive offers for their patrons on New Year’s Eve.
However, many residents of the city were conspicuous by their absence from the revelries this time. In keeping with the trends of the times, many chose to fly out to Goa, Colombo, Singapore, and Dubai to ring in the New Year. Some opted for hotels in Wayanad and Mysore. For the older generation and those with humble means, the New Year eve celebrations continued to be a vicarious experience, watching it all on TV or capturing the mood over FM radio, the latest in the media scene.
Unlike the previous years when the Kumbalangi Model Tourism Development Society alone organised the fest, the Kumbalangi panchayat, political parties, voluntary organisations and the district administration joined forces to organise the celebrations with gusto this year.
Taking a break
At the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, which employs 17,000 information technology (IT) professionals, the celebrations were a little subdued. Most of the employees apparently saw it as an opportunity to freak out and take a break from their stressful work schedules. While many of them headed for the beaches and resorts outside the city, others celebrated the arrival of 2008 by organising informal get-togethers at “celebration points” in areas such as Kovalam.
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