Artistes perform at the Golden Beach Festival on Chandipur beach near Balasore. Telegraph pictures

Balasore, Feb. 28: The 14th Golden Beach festival ended with fireworks at Chandipur. Visitors to the festival were treated to a kaleidoscope of folk and classical dance performances and music on the final day.

The four-day extravaganza, which concluded on Sunday, was replete with a variety of performances by artistes from within and outside the state. The audience was well entertained by the live shows at the festival.

Popular dance forms of the state such as chadhei chadheya, Odissi, Sambalpuri, gotipua, ghumar and classical and folk dances from different states exhibited their performance of bihu, kathak, Bhojpuri, jhumar and chhau (Purulia).

“I loved the bihu performance as well as the bhangra piece showcased at the festival. Artistes from Calcutta — Subrata Ganguli and Antra Chakraborti — along with their troupe stole the show. The final evening was packed with entertainment,” said visitor Susanta Nanda.

“This is a beautiful, serene beach. I had heard of the Chandipur beach, and now I have seen it with my own eyes. I also enjoyed the cultural programmes,” said Philips, 45, from the Netherlands.

The local artistes not only got a chance to exhibit their talents in front of viewers from across the globe, they also made most of the opportunity to interact with the artistes from other states.

“It was great to perform at this platform in front of such a wonderful crowd. All of us interacted with artistes from across the country and learnt about how to perform better at big festivals,” said a Ghumar artiste.

The festival, which began on February 23, came to a close on Sunday.