Two Booker prize winners Kiran Desai and Salman Rushdie will be the major attractions of 2007's 10-day Jaipur Heritage International Festival, which begins on January 13.
The festival organised by Jaipur Virasat Foundation will showcase a literary fest from January 19-21, with illustrious names like Amit Chaudhari, William Dalrymple, Namita Gokhale, Bhanu Bharti, apart from Australian author John Zubrzycki taking part.
The festival has been endorsed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for the first time in 2007, informed spokesman JVF Mahvior Sharma at a press conference in Jaipur on Wednesday.
With the aim of providing employment to craftsmen both in the rural and urban areas, the festival is a platform for creativity and sustainable development.
The only city festival in the world to be endorsed by UNESCO, this event is a unique example of partnership of several non-governmental organisations, the corporate world and other organisations.
The festival will witness performances of over 200 cultural artists; over 75 performances at 33 venues with over 100,000 audience.
A new addition in 2007 is the poetry session, which will bring together seven most outstanding poets from each of the "cultural regions" of Rajasthan who will bring forth the romance, humour, valour, history of the state and and also political satire.
Qawali sessions, puppet shows from Spain, Turkey, and Australia will also take place.
As Australia is the partnering country, an acrobatic circus from there will also be a part of the festival.
The craft bazaar next year will don a new look with the help of Delhi-based Dastkaar group, which will showcase the Dastkaar Nature Bazaar this time.
The bazaar will hold workshops for students and the design interventions will be part of 2008's fest.
