Celebrating the spirit of Hyderabad

The popular art and culture fest ‘Hydourite’ has been rechristened to ‘Hyderabad Arts Festival’ and the season 4 of the fest is donning a whole new avatar this year. The people behind the festival are AV Ramakrishna from Hyderabad, CS Manoj from Kerala and Capt Anand from Chennai, who made Hyderabad their home, whose love for city gave birth to the festival, said that the date of the beginning of ‘Hyderabad Arts Festival’ is permanent now. The event begins on the second Saturday of April every year and goes on for three months.

Hyderabad Arts Festival (HAF) will begin from April 9, with ‘Sounds of the Desert’ The Manganiar Magic of Music and dance, to be held at Shilparamam in Madhapur, it will end with an evening of soulful ghazals of the great maestro Pankaj Udhas on June 25 to be held at PEBL city. The new dimension of the festival from this season is its broader appeal and more of a Hyderabad connect.

The festival aims at involving people than having them only as an audience. So this year onwards, apart from the cultural events, HAF also has two interesting concepts to involve people. The first is a set of activities for kids. Throughout the HAF Season 4, every week there will be many activities for kids dining etiquettes, kids yoga, aquascaping, origami, money management, etc, all conducted by respective subject experts. Like all HAF events, these activities will also be free for the kids. Little Sparks Global has come forward to conduct these activities.

The second concept to involve people is a photo competition and exhibition. Any Hyderabadi, amateur or professional, can participate and send photos on the theme ‘My Hyderabad’. The top 100 selected entries will be displayed at an exhibition at Prasads and top three entries will be given prizes.

Another new facet in this season of HAF is the bringing in an international performance. HAF in association with Alliance Française of Hyderabad is presenting a French production “La ForetEbouriffee” on June 4, with French artists performing dance and theatre with multimedia. Also, this year HAF will have a merchandise of products and gift items, with the branding of “Hyderabad Arts Festival”, which will help people carry the memories of the festival.