This is for the first time that girls will have to pay their way into garba in Vadodara. Male participants have been coughing up for their dancers' passes at the UWV garba for the last 10 years.

One of the main organisers Amit Goradia told Express Newsline on Tuesday that the organisers are impressed by the enthusiasm shown by girls. ``We want the girl participants to be part of the United Way family,'' he said. Goradia said from Wednesday, only women who support the ``good cause'' and wear a token brooch, besides contributing Rs 50, will be allowed entry.

The brooches, available at the main gate of the garba venue and the UWV office, will, however, have to be purchased only once. Sources said the idea behind the token fee of Rs 50 was to enable girls to contribute to the cause and also control the crowd at the venue, where the number of participants have increased enormously over the years.

One of the leading crowd-pullers in the city during the nine-day festival, the UWV garba will feature singer Atul Purohit and his troupe.

The popularity of UWV garba has meant inadequate space at the dance floor over the years. On Monday, the second day of the annual festival, there were an astounding 12,000 dancers, while the venue can accommodate only 10,000, sources revealed. The rush would be unimaginable on the week-end, one of the organisers said.