let's dance: Dancers perform the Garba routine during a dress rehearsal at Vishala, Ahmedabad, yesterday. pic/afp

Escalating security concerns in wake of the serial blasts, coupled with turbulent markets, is set to take a toll on this year's Navratri celebrations.

Navratri is one of the biggest dance festivals celebrated in the state where people throng in huge numbers and play Garba a traditional form of dance for nine nights.

According to Garba organisers, additional security arrangements like CCTV cameras, extra security guards and dog squads, have shot up their budget by over 20 per cent.

On other hand, the corporate sponsors, on whom the garba organisers heavily depend for funding, have cut down on their event sponsorship budgets by over 30 per cent, industry sources said.

This has left the organisers in a lurch, with less funds to cope up with the rise in event organising costs owing to the additional security arrangements.