The International Elephant Race and Chitwan Elephant Festival has kicked off at Sauraha, a tourist hub in Chitwan district from December 26, Wednesday.

A morning procession was held in Chitwan prior to the start of the highly anticipated elephant race, where over a dozen elephants and different cultural floats were included. Sauraha in Chitwan is lavishly decorated for the festival from main cross-roads to hotels to parks and resorts.

The annual elephant race and festival is organized in Sauraha with the objective of promoting tourism in this holiday resort town. The ninth edition of the thrilling event, which is an integral part of the festival, will run for three days.

The elephant race is taking place at the open ground at local Baghmara. Besides the elephant race, elephant calf football championship, elephant beauty contest, horse-drawn cart race, push-cart race and different types of contests are the highlights of the festival.

This year’s race will see some 24 teams competing for the title of the championship. The number of competitors is the highest-ever. There were only 20 groups in the last year´s competition.