Vizag to witness a muted New Year Eve

Visakhapatnam: Given the pandemic situation and the threat of the new coronavirus strain looming large, a majority of revellers decided to confine to a muted celebration this New Year.

According priority to health and safety, many refrain from thronging crowded spots to hang out for the New Year's Eve (NYE) and prefer to keep it as simple as possible.

Normally, the clubs in Visakhapatnam get abuzz with entertainment shows on the New Year's Eve. And so are the hotels that spend lakhs, inviting celebrities and engaging orchestras, DJs and singers. During New Year, the expense thus incurred for the bash by the hotels exceeds 10 times more than the other parties they host. While a couple needs to shell out not less than Rs 5,000 for the New Year celebrations at a hotel, the charge ranges from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 for an individual. Considering unlimited food and liquor served in some of the hotels, revellers opt for reserving the tickets well in advance.

While entrepreneurs and the elite group prefer to go for outdoor parties to celebrate NYE, Beach Road turns out to be an energy-packed entertaining platform for the youth and middle class families. More than 50,000 people used to throng the beach road to celebrate New Year bash.

However, this year, hotels and clubs paint a dull picture as the city police decided against granting permission to them to host New Year Eve parties. Commissioner of Police Manish Kumar Sinha says that the decision was taken, keeping the public's safety in view. Meanwhile, the city police have unveiled posters encouraging revellers to celebrate New Year at home.

Event managers find the season quite not-so-brisk. "Unlike earlier times, we could not go ahead with the NYE party in any of the venue due to the lack of permission. Hence we thought of doing away with the parties this year," reasons Dadi Ravi Kumar, honorable advisor of the Event Managers' Association.

This is perhaps the first time many hotels are going to witness muted New Year celebrations. "Except the regular dining, the hotel is not going to host any event. This is probably the first time our hotel is ushering in a quiet New Year," says G Madhav Ram, Deputy Manager (Sales and Marketing), Hotel Palm Beach.

For the revellers across North Andhra, the City of Destiny used to be the centre of attraction to spend the NYE.

However, this year, most revellers confine their celebrations to home or a common place with their near and dear ones.