The annual Nisagandhi Dance Festival organised by Kerala Tourism Department will begin at the Kanakakkunnu palace in Thiruvananthapuram on January 20.
Governor R L Bhatia would inaugurate the week-long festival at a function to be presided over by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and popular actor Mammootty would be the chief guest.
'Swara Mela Natanam,' an ensemble of music and dance choreographed by Neena Prasad would be the main attraction of the inaugural event. Manipuri dance by Paushali Chatterjee's group would follow the inagural function.
Eminent artistes from different states would perform at the festival during the seven nights at 'Nisagandhi' open air auditorium while Ekta group from Mumbai would stage various dance and music programmes at the adjacent 'Sooryakanthi' auditorium.
The programme schedule was released by Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan here on Thursday.