The 2-day Annual Bhaderwah Tourism-cum-Cultural Festival, which was organized by Bhaderwah Development Authority in collaboration Tourism Department , concluded today with great enthusiasm and fanfare at Govt. Higher Secondary School (Boys) Bhaderwah. A colorful cultural bonanza was also organised in which various renowned local and outside artists performed and mesmerized the audience.The event received an overwhelming response from locals as well as tourists from other parts of the state and country.Speaking on the occasion, the CEO said such events provide a platform and exposure to the unexplored tourist destinations. He said that the Government is raising the tourism infrastructure in Bhaderwah as the area possesses great tourism potential whether it is adventure tourism, pilgrimage tourism or herbal tourism.He said Bhaderwah is endowed with abundant natural scenic resorts which needs to be explored. He asked the people to establish guest houses, restaurants, hotels and other tourism related infrastructure for which full technical and moral support will be provided by the BDA and Tourism Department for socio-economic uplift of the people.Speaking on the occasion, Famous singers of Faqira group from Rajasthan said that, “Tourism being the back bone of the State’s economy is strengthened by the efforts made by the State and Central Governments by creating tourism infrastructure and bringing more areas on the tourism map”.They added that the festival provided a suitable platform to the local artists to showcase their talent and provided them a chance to interact with renowned artists of the country, who participated in the festival.“Participation of people from different regions of the country will help the people of Chenab Valley region in understanding the culture and tradition of these people”, Singer from Jammu Sonali Dogra said . Various colorful events which were featured during the festival included Sham-e-Bhaderwah (Ghazals and Musshaira) with reputed national level artists included Faqira group from Rajasthan , cultural jhankies depicting culture and heritage of erstwhile Bhaderdesh in particular and Jammu and Kashmir in general, cultural programme , musical concert with star artist singer of Jammu and Kashmir Sonali Dogra at HSS Boys ,besides various other programmes which received an overwhelming response from the public.However mementos , shields and certificates of merits were also distributed among the dedicated officials who work hard in festival included Tehsildar Bhaderwah Masood Rangraz , SDPO Brijesh Sharma , SHO Jatinder Singh Sambyal , Publicity Secretary BDA Sajid Nisar Khan , AEE BDA Mohd Saleem Sheikh , Vaski films team included Manoj Kotwal , Tariq Chowdhary , Journalist Mohd Majid Malk and others . Earlier, the festival was inaugurated by MOS Tourism Priya Sethi , MLA Bhaderwah Daleep Singh Parihar and MLA Doda Shakti Raj Parihar.