Bhubaneswar: Bali Yatra, the biggest trade fair in Odisha, is all set to kick off on the banks of Mahanadi river in Cuttack city on the occasion of Kartika Purnima on November 27 (tomorrow).

The annual fair, which celebrates the glorious maritime history of Odisha, will continue till December 4.

The Cuttack district administration and the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have made elaborate arrangements for smooth organization of the 8-day fair.

As many as 1,800 stalls displaying various handicrafts and other household goods are expected to come up on the fairground this year. The Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society will open at least 400 stalls at this year’s Bali Yatra, said an official.

Hundreds of food stalls, merry-go-rounds and roller coaster rides will be the main attraction of Bali Yatra. Morover, a private agency in Tamil Nadu has been roped in to bring its tunnel aquarium to this year’s fair, added the official.

Several cultural troupes from across Odisha and other states will perform Odissi, Chhau, Bihu, Mahari, Gotipua, Sambalpuri, Kathak, Marathi folk dance, Bengali folk dance, Santali folk dance and Paika dance on various evenings of the fair.

A folk dance troupe from Bangladesh is also scheduled to perform at this year’s Bali Yatra.

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Several popular artistes from Bollywood and Ollywood including Anu Malik, Sachin-Jigar, Abhijeet Majumdar, Papu Pom Pom, T Souri, Shibani Sangeeta, Sailendra Samantaray, Poonam Mishra, Subashis Sharma, Swayam Padhi, Diptirekha Padhi, Supriya Nayak, Antara Chakrabarty, Sital Patra, Arpita Choudhury, Kuldeep Pattanaik, Tarique Aziz, Sohini Mishra, Bishnu Mohan Kabi and Satyajeet Pradhan will also entertain the visitors at the fair.

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As many as 60 platoons of police personnel will be deployed in and around the fairground to ensure safety and security of the visitors. At least 120 CCTV cameras have been installed across the fairground and six watch towers have been erected to manage crowd and to keep a tab on the anti-socials, said an official of the Commissionerate Police.

The district administration has also set up a ‘Cuttack in Cuttack’ enclave on the fairground. The enclave will depict the rural life including thatched house, cow shed, village pond, school and Bhagawat Tungi. There will be at least 10 selfie zones for visitors at the enclave, sources said.

The district administration and the CMC will hold Patha Utsav (street festival) in the morning hours from November 27 to December 4 near the fairground, said Cuttack Collector Narahari Sethy.

“We are expecting the footfall of at least 5 lakh people on each day of this year’s Bali Yatra,” said the official.