Kickstart Entertainment and NRAI Announce India Nightlife Convention and Awards (INCA)

by  Shantanu Jain Marketing | June 9, 2016 | News

Kickstart Entertainment

Nightlife in India has evolved rapidly in the last few years as bars and pubs have turned into event venues leading towards more employment for artists and revenues for government. And to celebrate the same, Kickstart Entertainment and NRAI recently announced the India Nightlife Convention and Awards (INCA) at The St. Regis, Mumbai.

Danke presents India Nightlife Convention and Awards (INCA) 2016 in association with Johnnie Walker, will take place on the 17th and 18th July 2016 at the St Regis Hotel in Mumbai. It will be the first platform specifically designed to bring together and recognize the various stakeholders of one of India’s most vibrant and fastest growing Industries – Nightlife. 

Speaking at the event, Riyaaz Amlani, President, NRAI said, “The Contribution of the Nightlife industry also known as PBCLs (Pubs, Bar Cafes, and Lounges) to the nations GDP and employment has largely gone unrecognized. Currently there are over 6200 licensed bar premises, contributing over 11,500 crores to the Indian economy growing at an astonishing CAGR of 20% making it the fastest growing Industry in the country outperforming the Indian IT Industry and beating GDP growth rates 3x employing over 20 Lakh people.  The Nightlife business is also the fastest growing segment in the overall foodservices space, growing twice as fast as QSRs and Casual Dining segments. The time has come for the Nightlife industry to be recognized as an independent booming Industry of its own.”

                                  DJ Clement. Suvedh, Nichole Morea and Keith Tham

Bar Owners, DJ’s and Party enthusiasts gathered at the event to support and uplift the bar and nightlife industry. The event had bollywood actor and owner of LAP Arjun Rampal as the Guest of Honor. Others in attendance were DJ Akbar Sami, DJ Clement, Shathbi Basu, Keenan Tham (Trilogy), Suved Lohia, Nicolo Morea (Elbo Room)  along with the esteemed advisory board - Riyaaz Amlani (President, NRAI & CEO/MD, Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd), AD Singh (Owner, Olive Bar & Kitchen Pvt Ltd), Dilip Joshi (Consultant for Restaurants, bars, nightclubs & Lounges), Kishore DF (Director, Bang On Consulting), David DSouza (Onwer, Tito’s Goa) and Jay Singh (Co -Founder and Executive Director, JSM Corporation Pvt Ltd) for the announcement. Friends & Party lovers Shailender Singh (Managing Director, Percept), Sanjay Lal, Aditya Motwane (Managing Director,MEW) and others.

                   Malini Agarwal of Miss Malini and Aman Anand, Director Kickstart Entertainment

Aman Anand, Director of Kickstart Entertainment, said: “We are proud to present a huge prospect to the industry enthusiasts to gain insights and the personal experiences of International renowned speakers as well as to felicitate the best in the bar and nightlife industry. The event which attracts attendees from across India is a key forum for vendors to connect and develop a social network thereby helping them build their customer base”. 

At present, India has the youngest population in the world with major metros having numerous bars and nightclubs in each city, however there is no such platform that brings together bar and nightclub owners from multiple cities under one roof. The nightlife industry needs recognition within the fraternity and what better way to do it other than to launch a property like India Nightlife Convention and Awards. Partnering with this initiative are  Miss Malini: Digital Partner, Universal Music Group: Music Partner, Harman International: Lights & Sound Partner, Ernst & Young: Process Advisor, id8 media solutions: Brand & Communication Partner, Alpha Q: Bar Innovation and Neo Juris: Legal Advisor.

INCA will be a two-day business convention for attendees within the bar and the nightlife industry from across India encompassing business and informational workshops with the industry’s most influential entrepreneurs and business specialists.

Following the convention would be the awards ceremony recognizing the best from the bar and nightlife industry. What differentiates these awards from the quintessential nightlife awards is the transparency with which each participate will be reviewed. INCA will be announcing the categories for the awards where participants from across the country stand a chance to compete against each other.  Carefully selected jury members from our main metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Goa, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata) will contribute towards finalizing the entrants from their respective cities. Concurrently, bars from across India have the opportunity to enroll themselves as well as the public can vote for their favourite nightspot. An appointed national jury will then nominate the best under each of the categories. The world’s most credible and leading professional auditors Ernst & Young will be reviewing and tabulating the entire process revealing top finalists in each category. Also in a first, these awards will be at a National level for the Industry by the Industry Insiders, making them even more prestigious and revered.

                                         Nemish Sanghvi, COO, Kickstart Entertainment

INCA aims to establish itself as the first mover in the category with a long-term commitment from trade bodies creating a revolution. Being one of the largest revenue and employment generators in the service industry but not receiving the deserved gratification, INCA endeavors to promote accessibility, ideation, cross-pollination and development of a mutually inspiring community within the industry.