Function halls thriving in city of concrete jungle

Hyderabad: For any event of a family or get-togethers of corporate, be it small or big, in a city of concrete jungle like Hyderabad, function halls come to the rescue for holding the events grandly, accommodating all the visitors with ample parking space. With city fast growing and open spaces vanishing, denizens hardly have any space to organise a function at their home. In such a scenario, a function hall is the best place where families can invite all their relatives, friends and office colleagues. Hall management lessens the burden of the organisers because of the facilities available at the halls.

Halls are usually built on the main road so that it is easily accessible to event visitors from all corners of the city. Renting out function halls and convention centres is an evergreen business, says Vanga Harishchandra Reddy, vice president of East Zone Function Hall Association. He said the business started around 30 years back when investors started building halls in agricultural lands after seeing demand for them and the profits. 

Explaining about the trends in hall bookings, Harishchandra said that, every year, a hall gets booked for 60 to 80 functions including marriages, birthday parties and others. The astrological calendar and festivals play an important role in bookings of hall. “Business is high in the months of February, March, April, May, August, November and December. And in off season months we usually have bookings for small birthday parties and private meetings for which the hall is rented out for less amount,” he said, adding that, “In the business months, sometimes we hold two functions in a day making the management earn good profits.” “Earlier, the business was good in the east zone, but now due to an increase in the number of function halls in the last decade, there is a decrease in our profits. There are about 100-120 halls in the east zone,” the association president said.

As halls with high occupancy were being built across the city, it has affected the business in the east zone. Earlier, the management used to give only a hall to customers, but now every functional hall provides all the facilities and equipment needed for the event at an extra cost. The customer can either book the decoration and catering contractors available at the hall or can order from the outside. Harishchandra informed that every hall had to follow the rules framed by the association. The rate of the hall depends on its occupancy. DJ music and bursting of crackers were prohibited in the halls. 

Speaking on the convenience of holding an event at function hall, Madhusudhan, a customer of Vanga Ananth Reddy Gardens, said, “Half of our work is done by the hall management. If we have to organise a function at home, we have to arrange every small thing, but in function hall they will arrange everything. This saves our time and efforts.” 

BY Kavya Reddy