Kochi, June 30 (IANS) Preparations are underway in this Kerala city as it gears up to host an international meet of around a thousand magicians in August.

While the magicians will hold meetings on August 12-13, the third day would be open to the general public.

Among those likely to attend the event titled 'Manthra-2- International Magic Convention' are Vladyslav from Ukraine, Sombat Mamada from Thailand, Sai from Taiwan, J from Vietnam,  Alona from Paris and Tora Hossien from Iran.

The live wire of the event is none other than the internationally acclaimed Kerala magician Samraj, who is the winner of the prestigious “Merlin Award”, popularly known as the “Oscar of Magic”.

While interacting with IANS, the 67-year-old engineer-turned-magician said this is the second edition when the first one was held in 2016.

“The first one was a success and this time we have got support from the Culture and Tourism departments of Kerala, Mazma India and Thailand based Academy of Magic,” said Samraj.

He added that this is basically a meeting to strengthen the network of magicians at all levels and the highlight would be the presence of hundreds of street magicians from the country .

“The meeting will also discuss the changing face of magic as like in every field, magic also undergoes numerous changes. This is a must for all of us as we will get to learn from one another,” said Samraj.