Pearl (cultural festival)

Pearl is the annual cultural fest of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. It consists of a variety of events in music, dance, theatre, arts, photography, VFX, quizzing and literary activities. It had its inception in 2009 as an intra-college festival, a year after the foundation of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad.

History

The first edition of Pearl was conducted in 2009, as a conglomeration of intra-college competitions. For the first four years of its tenure i.e. 2009-2012, it consisted of both technical and cultural events. The technical events were removed after the college created its technical fest, ATMOS in 2013.

2010

It evolved into an inter-college fest the following year. The 2010 edition spanned over a period of 2 days, receiving footfall from about 50 colleges. It consisted of a pro-show by the Indian band Parikrama and singer Karthik. The music events included a Western rock contest and competitions in Indian classical music and Indian classical rock. In dance, the events were called Terpischore, Soul'O and Abhivyaktika.^[1]

2011

The 2011 edition of Pearl was held over 4 days, from 10th to 13th February that year, in the college campus. Sponsorship for the fest amounted to over 40 lakh, with the net prize money close to 15 lakh. The pro-show was conducted by Dark Tranquility, a Swedish metal band. ^[2]

2012

In 2012, Pearl saw a participation of roughly 5000 students. Extending for 4 days, there was a concert by the Ghatam Brothers, a performance by popular film singer Benny Dayal, Belgian metal band Thurisaz. Technical paper presentations and workshops formed a significant part. For the first time in the history of Pearl, gaming events took place. The annual fashion show 'Glitterati', which continues today, was also introduced.^[3]

2013

The British rock band Amplifier made their foray into India with their performance at Pearl 2013.^[4]

References