Kala Ghoda Festival 2010
The Kala Ghoda arts festival is a nine day extravaganza that sees Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Arts Precinct transformed into an open air exhibition space and stage show. This vibrant street festival includes arts and crafts, exhibitions, seminars, dance, music, theater, heritage walks, and special events for children. The great thing about it is that it’s all free!
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Dates : 6-14 February 2010
From its inception in 1999, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has grown in stature and popularity, attracting visitors and participants from other parts of the country, and the world.
The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is organised by the Kala Ghoda Association (a non-profit organisation that states its objectives as “physically upgrading the Kala Ghoda sub-precinct and making it the Art District of Mumbai”) and curated by teams handling each of the sub-festivals.
The sub-festivals feature the visual arts, dance, music, theatre, cinema, literature, lectures, seminars and workshops, heritage walks, special events for children, and a vibrant street festival. Entry to all events is free to all (only restricted by the size of the venues) and costs are met through corporate sponsorship. Venues include The Jehangir Art Gallery, The National Gallery of Modern Art, the David Sassoon Library, Max Mueller Bhavan, Elphinstone College, the K R Cama Institute, the M C Ghia Hall, and the street area of Rampart Row. Rampart Row is closed off to vehicular traffic for the duration of the festival, with the entire area becoming a street mela, with food stalls, artisans selling their creations, artists who sketch instant portraits, street art installations and the like. In recent years, the Festival has expanded beyond the Kala Ghoda crescent, with events being held in Azad Maidan and Horniman Circle as well.
The success of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has, arguably, encouraged the setting up of several other arts and cultural festivals at that time of the year, when the weather in Mumbai is cool and the sun sets early. These include the Mumbai Festival, the Celebrate Bandra Festival, and in 2007, the Kitab Festival.
* When: February 6-14, 2010.
* Where: Kala Ghoda Arts Precinct, Fort, Mumbai.
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