Gaya, Feb. 12: Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Smriti Nyas will organise a 10-day book fair and cultural festival from February 19 at Gandhi Maidan in the town to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

Kathak maestro and Padma Vibhushan awardee Pandit Birju Maharaj will inaugurate the fair that will see performances by personalities such as Anup Jalota.

Nyas president Neeraj Kumar today said about 150 stalls would be set up at the fair ground. Nearly 50 leading publishers from across the country have agreed to attend the Magadh Book Fair-cum-Cultural Mahotsav.

“Prominent among them are Raj Kamal, Sahitya Academy, Hindi Kendriya Sansthan and Rajpal,” said Kundan Kumar, the convener of the book fair.

A book titled Samarshesh, on the life of Rashtrakavi Dinkar, and a souvenir, Gyan Sangati, will be released on the inaugural day of the fair. Cultural events will be held every evening where the audience can enjoy a performance by Birju Maharaj on Tagore’s Geetanjali and other works.

Nataliya, a celebrated dancer from the US, will also be in the team of Birju Maharaj.

Performance of Daak Ghar, a play by Tagore, will be another attraction of the fair. Jalota will perform on Tagore’s Geetanjali and Urvashi, apart from singing bhajans. Drama presentation by noted directors Surendra Sharma and Ajay Gaud will also be a part of the cultural show on the stage.

Neeraj said a conclave of poets would be held during the fair. The event would be attended by poets like Gopaldas Neeraj, Munawwar Rana and Vineet Chauhan.

Kundan said groups from Santiniketan (Bengal) and Magadh would perform folk items during the event.