An adventure junkie enjoys parasailing at the Sonepur fair on Thursday. Picture by Piyush Kumar Tripathi

Sonepur Mela is your Mecca if your heart beats for adventure sports.

Yash Raj, a 12-year-old school student, enjoyed parasailing at Sonepur on Thursday, and this was the third consecutive day when he came to the fair to feel the thrill of flying 150ft above ground.

The ongoing adventure sports activities at Sonepur Mela have become a huge draw for visitors. Around 300 people have taken parasailing, hot-air balloon rides and water surfing among others.

Following the inauguration of the month-long Sonepur cattle fair on November 5, the adventure sports activities started from this Monday. Enthusiasts of adventure sports in Patna and elsewhere in the state should head for Sonepur Mela over the next four days as these thrilling activities should end on November 18.

The adventure sports activities are being run by the Bihar chapter of National Adventure Foundation (NAF) and sponsored by the Saran district administration. From popular sports like wall climbing and archery to high-flying entertainment like parasailing and ballooning, the Bailhatta (bull market) ground has become a cynosure of fun.

The hot-air ballooning is being done in the evening hours, from 4pm to 7pm, as the wind speed is low around that time. Minimum six persons go on a single ballooning ride. “The hot- air balloon is my favourite adventure sports here as we reach up to 150ft height above ground. The excitement increases manifold as the ballooning ride is being held starting from sunset up to 8pm. I can see almost the entire Sonepur Mela with lights all around from up in the air. It has been a memorable experience for me,” said Yashraj.

Daya Shankar Mishra, director, Bihar chapter of NAF, claimed that the response of adventure sports at the cattle fair this time has been better than the previous year. In fact, adventure sports is being organised at Sonepur Mela since last year only.

“Last year, altogether 183 people played different kinds of adventure sports, including parasailing and water surfing, in seven days but this time, the figure stands at 175 in the first three days only. We want more people to come to our camp and try our adventure activities, so as to instil confidence among them as well as promote these sports in Bihar,” said Mishra.

In order to ensure safety of people taking the thrill of high-flying rides or water sports, the different activities are being held under the supervision of 19 trained instructors. “The NAF is a non-government organisation (NGO) recognised by the Union government for organising adventure sports activities across the country. All our 19 instructors at the ongoing camp at Sonepur are professionally trained from the NAF and we conduct adventure activities in most controlled manner,” said Mishra, a certified instructor from Indian Air Force.

Officials in the Saran district administration seem delighted over the response of adventure activities. “We want to add as much as diversity as possible in the fair to cater to all sections of the society. This is the second year these activities are being organised at the cattle fair here and it is being observed that its popularity has increased this time. People from Patna are also coming in good numbers to enjoy these adventure sports activities. It is due to the good response that we extended the camp from November 16 to 18,” said Kundan Kumar, district magistrate, Saran.

The Bihar chapter of NAF is also contemplating to organise similar adventure sports activities for a month at Sabbalpur Diara, a sandbar on the Ganga near Patna. “We are trying to hold talks with the tourism department to organise adventure activities like parasailing, water surfing, rafting and speed boat among others at Sabbalpur Diara during Makar Sankranti (around January 15) next year,” said Mishra.

Tourism department principal secretary Deepak Prasad appreciated the initiative taken by the NAF to hold adventure sports at Patna. “This is a good idea to hold adventure sports activities at Sabbalpur Diara and we would chalk out the further actions in this regard in a couple of weeks,” said Prasad.

• What: Adventure sports
• Where: Bailhatta and Kali Ghat at Sonepur cattle fair
• When: Till November 18

Types of adventure activities
• Water: Surfing and speedboat
• Air: Parasailing and hot-air balloon
• Land: Archery, shooting, wall-climbing and zorbing

Charges

• Combo pack of Rs 1000 for ballooning, parasailing and water surfing
• Rs 400 for ballooning and Rs 300 each for rest of the activities