The two-day “Kuakata Tourism Carnival 2026” began at the Kuakata sea beach, a popular tourist destination in Patuakhali, on Friday morning.
ABM Mosharrof Hossain, MP from Patuakhali-4, inaugurated the carnival, which began with a beach football competition, at the zero point of the beach near DC Park at 9:30am.
Sultana Jesmen, a reserved-seat MP, and Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Chairman Md Shamimuzzaman were present as special guests, along with officials from different government departments.
A total of eight teams are taking part in four matches of the football competition scheduled to continue until 4pm.
A kite festival and an art competition will be held at Lembur Bon in the afternoon, followed by a concert featuring popular artistes at night.
Various other programmes are also scheduled throughout Saturday.
More than 1 lakh tourists have gathered in Kuakata on the occasion of the carnival.
Inspector of Tourist Police Nazmul Hasan said around 700 members of the tourist police, river police, regular police and other law enforcement agencies have been deployed to ensure tourists' security.