President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the two-and half month long beach festival for tourism at the Union Territory of Diu last evening. The festival has been organized by the Diu administration in a bid to promote tourism in the island which is known for its scenic beauty, sandy beaches and heritage buildings. The longest beach festival of Asia called Festa Da Diu seeks to project the island as a best tourism destination.<br/><br/>During the 90 days long festival, series of events have been planned including cultural shows, music concerts, water and adventure sports and other activities to provide a comprehensive package to the tourists. Executive Director of Festa de Diu Manish Kumar Agrawal told AIR that elaborate arrangements have been made for the festival. <br/><br/>Noted singers and musicians like Kailash Kher, Shreya Ghoshal and Benny Dayal will perform in the concerts during the festival. Our correspondent reports that once a Portuguese colony, Diu has long and rich history. <br/><br/>In the 16th century, Portuguese built a huge fort encircling the island to protect it from attack. It remained in the control of Portuguese from 1535 to 1961, when finally the Indian army retrieved the Portuguese colonies in Diu, Daman and Goa under Operation Vijay in 1961. <br/><br/>Situated on the Saurashtra coast, Diu is a popular tourist destination and annually more than 1.5 million tourists visiting it. <br/><br/>Earlier, President Pranab Mukherjee had offered prayers in Somnath temple near Veraval along with his son & Member of Parliament Abhjijeet Mukherjee.<br/>Today, on the third and last day of his visit, the President will also offer prayers at the Dwarikadheesh Jagat temple in Dwarkia town near Jamnagar before returning to New Delhi.