The 34th National Games begin in Ranchi on Saturday. More than 8,000 athletes, including a host of Commonwealth and Asian Games medallists, will be vying for top honours in the 16-day event which will conclude on the 27th of this month. The Games will be held at the sprawling 325-acre Khel Gaon (Mega Sports Complex) in Hotwar, in the outskirts of the Ranchi city. Located five kilometers from the city, the Khel Gaon will play host to 19 of the 23 events that will be held in Ranchi. Dhanbad and Jamshedpur are the two other centers which will host the multi-discipline competition that will see about 11,000 participants, including around 8,500 athletes vying for top honours in 33 events. Jharkhand Governor M O H Farook will declare the National Games open in presence of Chief Minister Arjun Munda and IOA officials, including its president Suresh Kalmadi. It will be followed by an opening ceremony that will showcase the cultural and sporting heritage of the state at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium. The opening ceremony will also have Bollywood flavour with performances by Ameesha Patel and Vivek Oberoi. Sukhwinder Singh will also perform on the stage. The three-hour show will begin at 5pm with a tribute to Jharkhand's warrior Birsa Munda followed by performance by the folk artists and a laser show on the eminent sports persons from the state. Guwahati hosted the last edition of the Games in February 2007. With the competition taking place after a long grueling season that saw two big events in Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, the National Games will be without some big stars. Star shuttler Saina Nehwal, Asian Games gold medallist long distance runner Preeja Sreedharan, Asian Games 800 metres bronze medalist Tintu Luka have already pulled out of the tournament to give themselves some recovery time. Security has been beefed up in and around the city. Three companies of Jharkhand Armed Police and one company of JAP women have been put at strategic locations inside the Mega Sports Complex.