Today, hundreds of college festivals are held in India and thousands of students participate in these festivals. So, we thought it was about time that these college festivals are recognised and appreciated for the ideas, talent and organizational skills that go behind them. Festivals always recognize the best designers, actors, dancers, singers and writers. But, rarely is a college festival rewarded. It’s the one time where fun meets learning. Apart from being an entertaining experience, college festivals inculcate management, leadership, marketing and creative skills. They also act as a meeting ground for students to blend creatively from various cities, degrees and institutes.
Youth Incorporated, India’s leading award-winning edutainment magazine, has undertaken this initiative and organized the first edition of YIFA (Youth Incorporated Festival Awards), to bridge the gap and felicitate the hard work and dedication that transpires behind the scenes at these college festivals. The event was presented by Istituto Marangoni with associate partner Gatsby, along with media partner Exchange 4 Media; outdoor media partner Global Advertisers; venue partner Aqaba, music channel partner 9XM; multiplex partner INOX, digital partner Hungama.com; radio partner Fever 104 FM; photography partner Rhythmic Focus and video production partner ScreamBiscuit Productions.
The registration was open for a period of one month where more than 100 entries poured in. Every media partner sent out their communication for the participation in the awards. Finally, the jury meet took place on 26th February during which all the jury members were shown presentations of entries under each category. The esteemed panel of judges included award-winning music director Sulaiman Merchant; award winning Luxury Brand Consultant Nisha JamVwal; renowned lawyer and women rights activist Mrunalini Deshmukh; model, actress and masterchef Amrita Raichand; internationally acclaimed ballroom choreographer Sandip Soparrkar, Head of Istituto Marangoni Raul D’Souza and Youth Inc’s editor-in-chief, Nitish Shah. The jury deliberated for a few hours as it was extremely challenging to pick out the winners. There were many interesting discussions that took place during the meet and each of our judges could identify with the categories as they had visited various college festivals before as judges for their events. Finally, after all the votes were in, the 22 finalists were selected with a winner and runner up in each category. There were a few college festivals that stood out and won multiple awards such as Malhar, Umang and Xpressions. The festival of the year award went to Malhar, St. Xaviers College as they got the maximum points and awards.
The YIFA 2015 award ceremony took place on Wednesday, 4 March, at Aqaba. Gracing the occasion were winners from the top colleges, media heads, and important clients. Also present with our esteemed jury members, were guests of honour such as Dr. Indu Shahani (Dean – HR College), Dr. Kamal Guptas (Chairman – Lala College), Rouble Nagi (Artist & Sculptor), Raunaq Roy (Head – Hungama), Nawal Ahuja (Co-founder Exchange4Media) and many more. We give you an exclusive glimpse into, what can only be described as, history in the making.
Volume 4 Issue 10
