Festember

Festember is the annual cultural festival of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.^[1] It is a 3-day event held annually in the third week of September. Founded by the enthusiastic students of National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli in 1975, Festember has now evolved to become one of the greatest fests in South India.^[2] The 38th edition of Festember in 2012 had a participant strength of about 11,000 students from over 500 colleges across India. It was also the first time more than 50 events were conducted.^[3]

Introduction

Festember has a rich history of almost forty years. Since the first Festember, participating colleges compete to win possession of the Festember Rolling Trophy (famously called the Ilayaraja Trophy). Festember has continually striven to, and has succeeded in providing an opportunity to the youth all around the globe to showcase their talent and break socio-economical and geo-demographic borders.

Several celebrities and dignitaries have graced the festival, including but not limited to Illaiyaraja, Javed Ali, Naresh Iyer, Anuradha Sriram, Ganesh-Kumaresh amongst others.^[4] Festember '11 saw the famous Indian band Motherjane perform live on campus.^[5]

History

The first Festember was conducted in 1975.^[6]

Originally it was a zero-budget fest, where all aspects to the events were handled by students themselves. The event was self-sustained, as the circuital branches of the college made the speakers, mixers and amplifiers; The Department of Architecture overlooked the designing of all the backdrops and the cups and trophies which were given as prizes were made by the Mechanical Engineering Department. The Pro Shows were conducted in The Barn Hall of NIT,Trichy.

As time progressed, Festember has snowballed into one of the largest events in South India, with corporate funding that goes into millions. The one thing that remains the same however, is the impeccable hospitality extended to the participants. Festember, over the years has carved a niche for itself. Festember 2005 was named as the best cultural event of the year by the State Government of Tamil Nadu.^[7]

As stated above,major corporate sponsorship^[7] in Festember includes(but is not limited to)the following sponsors:

• 2007: Airtel ( Main sponsor), Indian Oil (Co-sponsor), Nvidia, Nestle (Associate sponsors)
• 2008: Airtel (Title Sponsor)
• 2009: Vodafone (Main Sponsor)
• 2011: DHL, Triton Musicz, Canara Bank, Peta, Vasan Eye Care, SS Music^[8]
• 2012: Nimbuzz, Cadbury 5 Star, Aircel, Coca-Cola, Asus, Canara Bank, Appy Fizz^[9]

The Rolling trophy was originally named the "Ilayaraja Trophy" after the famous maestro who performed at Festember at 1978.^[10] The Festember' X Rolling Trophy was won by Vellore Institute of Technology.^[11] The Festember'11 rolling trophy was won by Sastra University. SASTRA University continued its winning streak in 2012 and once again, snitched the trophy.^[12] Festember 2012 saw the pro shows being conducted in an Open Air Theatre(OAT), the first of its kind in Trichy.

ProNites

'Pro-Nites' or 'Pro-shows' are Festember's most anticipated events. They are mostly closing events held after the valediction ceremony. Festember has been the host to many celebrities and dignitaries. These celebrities that perform here truly cater to all tastes. Be it the traditional melodies played by Kadri Gopalnath^[13] and Ganesh-Kumaresh,^[14] the head banging rhythm of Silk Route,^[15] Euphoria and Motherjane, the empowering beats of Drums Sivamani^[16] or the popular chartbusters sung by Javed Ali, KK, Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer and Karthik, the ProNites always leave the audience swooning to the thunderous vibes of an era.

Festember 2007^[17] ProNite wittnessed the fine performance of KK. Festember 2008 witnessed spellbinding performances by Sivamani and Karthik. 2009 saw for the first time a classical performance by - Sax Kadri Gopalnath on Day 0 and on the last day - Benny Dayal and Bandish mesmerized the audiences. In 2010 - Ghatam Karthik on Day 0 and Anuradha Sriram along with Naresh Iyer and Srinivas on Day 3 was all the crowd wanted and more. In 2011 - Ganesh-Kumaresh charmed the crows with their Violin performance on Day 0, followed by a show by Crazy Mohan on Day 1 and Motherjane on Day 2. For the grand finale, Suresh Peters, Suchitra and Javed Ali gave heart rending performance on Day 3.^[18]

Festember 2012 saw the performance of Punya Srinivas on Day 0 and by Benny Dayal's band Groove#3 on Day 2. The final day performance was by Andrea Jeremiah, Suraj Jagan and Agam. ^[19]

Cultural events

Festember is defined by its high level quality of events.^[20] They include:

Dance

ChoreoNite

The Flagship event of Festember, ChoreoNite sets the stage for the crème de la crème dancers of various colleges to showcase their talent to groove to the tunes.^[21] Here at Festember, the Western and the Eastern genres are integrated into one big dance ensemble that is judged as a whole. With spellbinding moves, the thumping beats of the dancers and popular tunes being played at full blast, ChoreoNite generally evokes a huge response from the crowd.

Music

Shruthilaya

Shruthilaya is a classical music competition for vocals and instrumentals. Past editions of Festember have witnessed a musical extravaganza of gigantic proportions, where the audience lose themselves in the rhythm of the raagas.

Tarangini

Peppy, feet-tapping array of popular cinematic songs in Tamil and Hindi are sung by budding artists from various colleges.

Gig-a-Hertz

Gig-a-hertz ia semi pro rock event that draws crowds from all the south. It caters to those who prefer the heavier end of the decibel. With rock bands from across the country and special 1500 watt speakers to pump up the beat, droves of head-banging heavy metal fans gyrate in unison as they take in the music late into the night. Often said to be the Toughest Competition at Festember. This events gets more than 150 entries from all over India, and only 10 get selected to play at Festember.

Fashionitas

The first of its kind Fashion Event in Trichy City. Fashionitas was introduced in 2012 edition of Festember as an Individual Event offering a the highest Cash Prize for an individual Event in Festember. To be held on Festember Day 2

Cinematics

Take One

Take One is the short-movie making competition of Festember. Movies with any theme or genre are permitted with a duration of up to ten minutes. With eminent judges from the movie industry and themes ranging from fantasy to social messages, Take one remains the viewer’s delight.

Dramatics

Theatrix

A 45-minute dramatics competition entitled "Theatrix" is organized every year by the Thespians society of NIT-Trichy. Original scripts, pre-written scripts and adaptations are permitted, however the play should not have been staged at any earlier Festember festival. With major participation from all the big colleges, audiences witness some chilling performances in front of the spotlight.

Artistic events

Dominoes

A one metre square area is marked on the floor. Teams have to arrange their dominoes within this area. At the end of the competition, no domino is allowed to overlap outside the perimeter and the best arrangement wins the prize.

How Close Can You Get

A 100-word detailed description of a black and white photographis given to each team. Based on this description, the participants need to sketch the photograph. Judging is based on how similar their sketch turns out to be as compared to the original photograph and also on their artistic skill.

Graffiti

Graffiti painting competition, where the topic will be given on the spot and all the necessary materials will be provided. Judging is based on adherence to the theme, creativity, style, usage of the space provided and artistic quality.

See also

• National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli
• DoMS NIT Trichy
• List of culfests in India

References

External links

• festember.com
• NIT Trichy, Festember