The eight-day Baliyatra festival is all set to begin on the bank of river Mahanadi in front of the grand Barabati Fort here from Kartika Purnima day Friday.
This year's festival will also have an expansion, "City Festival", coinciding with an extended inaugural ceremony of World Cup Hockey to be held in Bhubaneswar.
"The World Cup inaugural ceremony will also be held at Barabati Stadium here on November 28. Musician A R Rahman and several cine stars from Mumbai and South India will perform in a night-long cultural programme, district information and public relation officer Ashok Sarangi said.
The City Festival will end on December 2.
A trade fair will also be held on this occasion.
Baliyatra festival commemorates the ancient maritime glory of Odisha, when merchants in ships used to visit south east Asian countries.
The visitors will also take pleasure of horse ride, camel ride, and elephant rides on the dry riverbed, Sarangi said.
The district council of culture has planned elaborate cultural evenings everyday at the festival ground. Apart from local artistes, music and dance troupes from Assam, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and New Delhi and from Indonesia and Bangladesh will take part in it, he said.
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