Artistes perform Gotipua in Bhubaneswar. File pictures

Bhubaneswar, April 5: The Odia New Year is fast approaching and revellers are looking forward to the chance to celebrate the occasion with dance and music at the 32nd Baisakhi festival. The weeklong cultural extravaganza will be held from April 14 in the city.

The festival, which will be held at Jayadev Bhavan, will host artistes from different fields of the performing arts from within and outside the state. The event will feature performances by classical dancers and musicians as well as folk artistes and so, visitors to the festival will be able to ring in the Odia New Year with a wide range of traditions and ethnicities.

“We will begin with a novel recital by Odissi dancer Meera Das and eminent Odissi musician Ramahari Das along with well-known vocalist Bijay Jena. A segment of the programme will be dedicated to Odissi every day,” said festival director and noted dancer Ratikant Mohapatra.

“More than three decades old, the annual fest will showcase a galaxy of great artistes, who will inspire our Bhubaneswar audience and take the art community to greater heights,” he said.

Apart from instrumental, classical and light vocal music and Odissi dance, attractions such as Sambalpuri folk dance, Gotipua dance from Puri and many other dying folk arts such as Ranapa, Danda, Ghumura, Daskathia, Ghoda Nacha, Palla, and Chhau will be showcased.

“Since conch blowing is considered auspicious before the start of any event, we have invited a troupe of conch blowers. Also, Gotipua artistes have always won the hearts of the city audience with the Bandha Nrutya, in which they display brave stunts as a part of the recital,” said Mohapatra.

A unique feature of the festival this year will be the presence of the governors of different states every day. “The governors will be our special guests each evening. So far, Uttar Pradesh governor Banwari Lal Joshi, Nagaland governor Nikhil Kumar and Himachal Pradesh governor Urmila Singh have agreed to attend the festival,” said Sahadev Sahoo, general secretary of Chinta-O-Chetana, which is organising the Baisakhi festival.

Nilachakra Samman, which is presented every year at the event to an eminent personality, will be conferred on Nagaland governor Nikhil Kumar.