The Kankaria Carnival to be held from December 25-31 at the city's Kankaria Lake is expected to attract over 20 lakh visitors.
However, many more will be able to catch the action as the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will hold an online video competition as part of the programme.
The entries for the competition, to be shot by visitors using their camera phones, will be uploaded on popular site Youtube. Interestingly, until this competition was made official, the police had decided to ban mobile phones at the venue as a security measure.
Under the Mobile Movieing Competition, visitors to the carnival would be able to post videos they have shot, on the AMC's Facebook page, from where the civic body would upload them to Youtube. The AMC would then see which videos get most hits and document the week-long carnival most comprehensively either in parts or as a whole. Based on this, the top three entries be rewarded — Rs15,000 cash going to the winner and Rs10,000 and Rs5,000 respectively to the two runners-up. The participants will have until January 5, 2012 to submit their entries. Assistant municipal commissioner of AMC, Ramya Bhatt will overlook the uploading of the video entries as well as the judging of the winners.
"It is for the first time that such a candid video shooting competition is being held in the city. With over 20 lakh visitors expected at the carnival over seven days, we are expecting many entries for the competition."
Bhatt also said that people from around the globe who are unable to come for the carnival would be able to see videos on Youtube. "The online viewers will be able to get a first-hand experience of the Kankaria Carnival as these videos will be shot by visitors," he said.
There will be many attractions at the Kankaria Carnival with municipal school students of the city giving performances that include classical and contemporary singing, regional and Bollywood dancing, plays, skits along with traditional costume displays from around the country.
Gujarat is home to people from many other states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, among others.
Performances by various groups of these states depicting their local traditions such as the Maharashtrian Lavani dance will also be on display at the carnival.
