The city spent the last Sunday of the year outdoors, making the most of a nippy winter day. From the Maidan greens and Eco Park to party corridor Park Street, it was a sea of people at all the usual fun spots. The Telegraph took a crowd check

Maidan Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Maidan

The Maidan wore a festive look with people playing cricket and football, egged on by large crowds of onlookers. Families sat around in circles, bed sheets spread out on the grass, eating packed lunch. Vinod Das, 40, who stays near Hind cinema, was there for a family picnic. “At least 25 of our family members are here. We had home-cooked lunch that we carried in boxes. We also played badminton and had a great time,” Das said.

Eco Park Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Eco Park

All four parking lots at Eco Park were packed all day even as serpentine queues of cars waited outside.

The mood was upbeat at the 480-acre New Town park as revellers played games, posed for photographs or just walked around. The Seven Wonders Park, the replica of Ghoom station complete with a toy train and Mother’s Wax Museum turned out to be the top selfie zones.

Joka resident Debashis Sarkar was on his first visit to the park with his three-year-old daughter Radhika. “She had great fun and clicked photographs with all her favourite characters,” said Sarkar, an advocate.

Victoria Memorial Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Victoria Memorial

The area around the Victoria Memorial and St Paul’s Cathedral had people streaming in all day.

The crowd at the Victoria Memorial peaked around noon with many walking in post-lunch and staying on till closing time at 5pm.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Urjaswi Das (picture above) chased bubbles while her father kept an eye on her.

The demand for horse carriages outside Victoria was also high.

Park Street Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Park Street

Sukanya Natya, a student of Banaras Hindu University, soaked in the sounds and sights of Park Street with friends Anwesha Majumdar and Trisapta Saha, both master’s students at Calcutta University.

Natya, who hails from Calcutta but has shifted to Varanasi for studies, thought there couldn’t have been a better time and place for a reunion with friends. “Park Street was extremely crowded on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, so we stayed away. However, we wanted to walk under the canopy of lights and could do so today without much fuss,” Natya said. The girls ate out, bought headgear with twinkling LED lights and posed for multiple groupfies on the stretch.

Many people were seen heading for Allen Park after lunch.