Dehradun, Mar 8 (PTI) Uttarakhand's annual flower festival Vasantotsav will begin at the Raj Bhawan here Saturday, with around 150 varieties to be on display apart from several new features added to the event aimed at promoting floricultural activities in the state.

About 125 out of 150 varieties of flowers to adorn the event are grown at the Raj Bhawan lawns, while the rest, mostly varieties commercially more in demand, are from outside.

The two-day festival, to be inaugurated by Governor Baby Rani Maurya Saturday morning, is likely to be attended by nearly 1.5 lakh people, including florists, flower enthusiasts.

She will also issue the cover of the event being released by India Post depicting Uttarakhand's native Akarkara flower, considered to be rich in medicinal qualities.

Describing Vasantotsav (spring festival) as an event reflecting huge floricultural potential of the state, the governor extended invitation to people to visit the show over the next two days during which the Raj Bhawan gates will remain open for everyone.

She expressed happiness that the area under flower cultivation in Uttarakhand, which stood at a meagre 150 hectares before the state came into being, now stands at 1,533 hectares.

The main attractions of the event will be competitions to be held under different categories like potted plants management, loose flower management, cactus and succulents, hanging pots, on-the-spot photography, painting competition.

About 150 awards will be up for grabs under nine broad categories and 50 sub-categories to be distributed by the governor on the concluding day of the show on March 10.

There will be a total ban on the use of polythene at the event.

Apart from flower growers, other institutions like THDC, NHPC and commercial banks have also been invited to put up their stalls to inform people about the schemes being run by them for farmers. PTI ALM KJ KJ KJ

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI