CUTTACK: The state government has renamed Asia’s biggest open-air trade fair, the historic Balijatra festival, organised to commemorate the rich maritime trade of Odisha.
The event, now called ‘Historic Balijatra’ instead of Balijatra, will be held from November 5 to 12. The fair will be organised on over 60 acre of land instead of 36 acres, but remain confined to lower Balijatra ground to improve crowd management and safety.
The decision was taken in a preparatory meeting chaired by Cuttack collector Dattatray Bhausaheb Shinde on Friday, for the smooth conduct of the festival. “Different committees have been formed for smooth observation of the festival, adhering to instruction of National Green Tribunal and direction of the Orissa High Court.
For the third consecutive year, the report related to the Balijatra festival will be sent to UNESCO for inclusion in the UNESCO Heritage List,” he said. Arrangements have been made to make all information related to Balijatra available on the integrated website. Cultural programmes will be held at both the Ganakabi Baishnab Pani Mancha, Dattatray said.
Organisations interested in performing cultural programmes can download the application from cuttack.odisha.gov.in and sent to dco.ctc@gmail.com. This year, cultural programmes will be held at Balijatra ground till 11 pm, he added.