Now, Bengaluru to have its own year end carnival

The Carnival would be celebrated on weekends ahead of Christmas and even go on into January  The roads on Church Street would be off limits for vehicles and motorists. BBMP is reconstructing the roads in preparation for the carnival.

To promote non-motorised activities in the city, BBMP is planning to organise a Carnival on the weekends in December and January. The government body is now working on the construction of the cobblestone road along the 750-metre stretch on Church Street, which is likely to be completed by November 15.

The Palike has planned to inaugurate the road by 1st December by organising a carnival on the street for every weekend till January as part of the New Year's celebration. According to the Palike, this will be its first-ever experiment to bring the experience of Western roads in Bengaluru. 

In fact, vehicles will be banned on weekends on Church Street once the road is opened to the public. Meanwhile, speaking to the Bangalore Mirror, N Manjunatha Prasad, Commissioner of BBMP said, "We will organise this carnival in order to promote pedestrian activity. Vehicles will be banned during this carnival and parking will be done on other roads. These kind of carnivals will help pedestrians and will reduce the pollution. Roads are not just for the motorists; pedestrians have equal rights on the roads too.”

An urban expert, RK Misra, speaking to the Bangalore Mirror said, "This is absolutely what we need. A city must have such activities going on because, just by creating the concrete jungle, a city cannot be called livable. It must create dynamic atmosphere for all. This will also attract more and more tourists. We have 1.2 crore people in the city, if this population of various cultures gets to meet in one place, then that is only because of these kind of festivals."