Worldfest India

Worldfest India is Ferriswheel’s annual international performing arts festival that attempts to bring the world together in one place. It is your virtual passport to the world, a one-stop destination for anyone who wishes to travel the globe. Not only does the festival provide a complete experiential zone teeming with art and culture, food, handicrafts but also offers an opportunity for first hand interactions with natives from various participating countries. It is a celebration of life, colour and music from different cultures and aims at promoting India as tourist friendly and safe destination. Worldfest hopes to create global citizens by uniting the youth of today as one people, enriched by individual differences and united by the common thread of humanity.

Worldfest has had two successful editions in the years 2011 and 2012 where countries like Turkey, Poland, Spain, Malaysia, Japan, Serbia, Romania, Italy & Sri –Lanka participated and hosted a crowd of over 75,000 people.

2011

As IIT Bombay’s annual cultural festival, Mood Indigo attracts massive crowds; over 75,000 students from 500 colleges across the country. Mood Indigo is Asia's largest college festival. Ferris Wheel took it to the next level. Mood Indigo went international with Worldfest 2011. Ferris Wheel brought young folkdance groups from Spain, Turkey, Poland and Indonesia to share their country’s rich cultural heritage. IOV Indonesia Youth performed dances inspired by nature and wildlife, rituals and harvest and farming lore, using authentic costumes and props. Spain’s world-renowned group ballet ‘Ara de Madrid’, previously performed in over 25 countries, showcased the hidden traditions and customs of Spain, inspired by the art and colours of the country. The Student’s Folk Ensemble "Katowice’’ of the University Silesia, Poland, presented songs and dances of Upper Silesia, the Beskidy Mountains and Zywiec.^[1]

Worldfest 2011 pictures

Internationally acclaimed ‘Kleurrijke Dans’, an authentic Turkish dance group based in the Netherlands, highlighted Turkey’s diverse culture with various Turkish dance traditions.^[2]

Worldfest 2011 pictures

These international groups conducted workshops to facilitate cultural exchange. They connected with India by discovering Mumbai through meticulously planned sightseeing tours, parties and forays into the city.^[3]

Worldfest 2011 pictures

Mr.Vivek Oberoi championed Worldfest 2011 with its core message "Today’s friendship for Tomorrow’s peace". The ideal brand ambassador, straddling not only the world of Bollywood, but especially lauded for his hands-on intervention in a myriad social causes – from helping re-build a tsunami-ravaged village, and the World Health Organization's anti-tobacco spokesperson, to his involvement with several charities in Chennai and Mumbai.^[4]

2012

In its second consecutive year, Worldfest was a huge success and received rave reviews both in print and television media. Ferriswheel brought together young folkdance groups from an even greater range of countries: Italy, Serbia, Japan, Sri Lanka and Romania.Italy’s ‘Sbandieratori dei Rioni di Cori’ practise the ancient art of flag throwing, and tossedbeautifully-coloured flags with deceptive ease. The group’s extensive experience and performances has earned them international acclaim.^[5]

Worldfest 2012 pictures

‘Simyonov’ from Serbia, represented the richness of Serbian folklore with classical ballet at its base, and a style that was bold, powerful and displayed staggering athleticism. The ‘Taiko Drum Club Fukui Norin High School’ from Japan brought alive this ancient Japanese form of percussion using large drums with complex choreographed movement reminiscent of Japanese martial arts. Sri Lanka’s Ranranga Dance Academy captivated with their performance, and are members of the International Dance Council (CID -UNESCO) for the contribution and promotion of folk art. The ‘Doinita’ folk ensemble belongs to the House of Culture of Students from Bucharest, Romania. Their repertoire included dances from all the regions in Romania.^[6]

Worldfest 2012 pictures

These international groups conducted workshops to facilitate cultural exchange. This year, there were workshops, visits to the Elephanta caves, a Grand Carnival, a Night Arena, heritage walks, handicrafts on display, and even a tree planting drive.^[7]

Worldfest 2012 pictures

Vivek Oberoi extended his support as brand ambassador for the second year running.

References

External links

• Worldfest India on Facebook
• Worldfest India on Twitter