#FoF Spotlight: “Independent content no longer sits on the fringes” – Independent Together

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | August 6, 2020 | News

Festival of Festivals Event Capital BookMyShow Independent Together

Event Capital and BookMyShow have announced the launch of ‘Festival of Festivals’ (FoF). The curated collection of India’s event IPs (intellectual properties) across genres such as music, food, literature, languages, fashion, and more, has been conceived to boost India’s live entertainment sector that has been heavily impacted through the Covid19 crisis. 

A first-of-its-kind initiative, the three-day virtual gala starts 14th August 2020. It is slated to feature 15 festivals, adding up to over 23 hours of content. The ticketed event will donate 10 percent of proceeds to NGO Anahad, to support artistes involved in live entertainment impacted by the pandemic. This will be routed through BookMyShow’s charity initiative BookASmile.

EVENTFAQS Media reached out to participating festivals to know what one can expect to see at the inaugural FoF and what participants expect from the new property. Here below is an interaction with Soumini Sridhara Paul, Vice President, Hungama Artist Aloud from participating festival, Independent Together.

How does a move from on-ground to virtual format impact an established event IP like yours?

The situation has made the industry realise the importance of the digital medium even more and has nudged everyone to make their consumer outreach strategy more digitally inclusive. This is not the first online event or IP that we'll be organising. We were amongst the first to initiate the concept of concerts from home with our property #StayAtHome #StayEntertained that featured leading independent artists performing live from their homes and interacting with their fans on our social pages. Launched in April, the property has now had several seasons and editions. 

We also created the digital version of our successful on-ground IP, World Music Day Festival. This was a ticketed event done in partnership with BookMyShow, which featured four concerts from renowned musicians - Mame Khan, Parikrama, Anand Bhaskar Collective and Hardeep Grewal, performing original songs live from their homes on the occasion of World Music Day. Similarly, Independent Together #StayAtHome #StayEntertained, an IP that we created in May featured over 75 artistes across art forms like music, comedy, etc. performing from their homes to raise money for daily wage earners. Going forward as well, we will continue to create more such IPs and convert some of our successful on-ground IPs into digital ones. We have already announced the Indian Independent Music Awards, which will recognise independent talent and will be held completely online.

What is your expectation from being part of the Festival of Festivals?

Festival of Festivals stitches together some of the most successful IPs across formats and genres to give viewers a comprehensive and wholesome entertaining experience. We are excited to be a part of it and look forward to showcasing the immense talent that exists within the independent music space.

What is the content module you are coming up with for FoF? How similar or different will this be from your original festival?

Hungama Artist Aloud Independent Together #StayAtHome #StayEntertained will feature 15 independent musicians performing original songs for the viewers. This includes Manasi Scott, Shibani Kashyap, Aabha Hanjura, Eka, Jasleen Aulakh, Prarthana Choudhury, Vipul Panchal, Suryansh from The Suryansh Project and Parikrama. Additionally, Anika Bharwani, Prisha Mangat, Aléa Motwane, Krisha Mongia, Esha Bodapati and Vikram Sivashankar, six extremely talented young artists from Hungama Artist Aloud Discoveration – Gen Next, a musical series that featured independent musicians under the age of 18, will also be seen performing in the concert.

One reason for people to watch it, over the plethora of content on the web.

Independent content no longer sits on the fringes. It is as mainstream as film music. There are extremely talented artists who have been creating some of the most amazing content. As the leading platform for independent content, we are delighted to bring 15 artists together for a concert and are certain that the viewers will be able to appreciate the uniqueness and diversity that the independent music space and Hungama Artist Aloud have to offer.

(EVENTFAQS Media is a partner to the Festival of Festivals.)