Rendezvous (festival)

Rendezvous, IITD

Type	Student Run, Non-Profit Organization
Genre	Cultural
Founded	1976
Place	Delhi, India
Institute	Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Website	http://www.rdv-iitd.com/

Rendezvous is the annual culfest of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. It is a four-day-long event held at the end of October every year. It draws a footfall of about 50,000^[1] from more than 350 colleges across the country. Started in 1976 by a bunch of enthusiastic IITians, now in its 38th edition, it has become the largest festival of its kind in Northern India.

Introduction

Open Air Theater Event in Rendezvous 2010

Rendezvous, the cultural festival of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, is North India's largest college cultural festival. This four-day-long annual festival held towards the end of October every year, is a student-run non-profit organization which caters primarily to the youth. Rendezvous sees participation from a large number of students from over 350 colleges all over Delhi and nearby states of Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan with a footfall of over 50,000. Rendezvous boasts of performances by the stalwarts of the entertainment industry, from India and abroad. In the past, celebrities like Rabbi Shergill, Javed Ali, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Imran Khan, Tania Sachdev, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Tom Alter have come and been a part of the events in this festival. Performers like Farhan Akhtar, Kailash Kher, KK, Mohit Chauhan, Papon, Shilpa Rao, Shubha Mudgal, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan and Surinder Sharma have performed in events here to entertain the crowd. Bands like Hoobastank, Malefice, Textures, Mindsnare, Rockfour and Mynta have come from abroad to perform here in musical events. Indian Bands like Parikrama, Agnee, Advaita, Prestorika, Vayu, Faridkot and Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) have also performed in this festival. Rendezvous has attracted major sponsors and extensive media coverage over the years. The team of Rendezvous consists of student volunteers who work to promote creativity and intellectualism, and it symbolizes a place to be together and celebrate, as its name suggests.

Events

Pro-Shows

Spectrum, the Group Dance Competition

Rendezvous organizes four Mega Events, one on each of its evening in the Open Air Theatre(OAT), which has a capacity of over 6000 people. These big wigs include Spectrum which is an Inter-College Group Dance Competition, Kaleidoscope which is an Inter-College Fashion Show and Choreography Competition, Blitzkrieg the Rock Band Competition cum Concert and Dhoom the Indian Musical Performance by renowned artists. Dhoom, in the past has staged popular performances like Coke Studio@MTV (Papon, Shilpa Rao and Advaita Band)^[2] in 2012; Rabbi Shergill and Javed Ali^[3] in 2011; KK^[4] in 2010; and Kailash Kher and Mohit Chauhan. The Pro-Show Spectrum has maintained the legacy of hosting star casts of popular Bollywood movies like Chakravyuh (Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpai, Esha Gupta)^[5] in 2012, Band Baaja Baaraat (Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh)^[6] and Break Ke Baad (Deepika Padukone, Imran Khan)^[7] in 2010. Blitzkrieg has staged several international headliner bands like Cypher16^[8] in 2012, Textures^[9] in 2010, Malefice^[10] in 2009, and Mindsnare^[11] in 2008; and Indian Rock Bands like Parikrama,^[12] Thermal and a Quarter, Prestorika, Decibel, Faridkot and Vayu.

All of these Pro-Shows go under an elimination process to choose the finalists. Blitzkrieg holds its preliminary rounds in 4 different cities Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi. These have been judged by prominent judges like Shiamak Davar (Choreography Competition 2012).

Informals

The Stunt Mania in 2010

Rendezvous organizes a lot of fun and adventure filled events for the students, which include Go-Karting, Couple Dance, Laser Tag, Zorbing, Blind Dating, Street Dancing, Podium, Mr. and Ms. Rendezvous, Salsa Workshops and a lot more. These events are participated in large numbers. A Section of these events, called Melange, are focused on showcasing traditions and folk artistry of India. These include Art Exhibitions, Professional Plays, Movie Festival, Fire Shows, Qawwali Night, Folk Dances and lot more. These events are held throughout the four days of the festival.

Confluence - International Music Festival

Confluence is a series of Musical performances from bands across the globe, varying across different genres. Year 2012 saw performances by Solstice Coil a progressive rock band from Israel, Irish rock band The Riptide Movement, Tal Kravitz and Spanish Raga. In 2011, Hungarian Information and Cultural Center presented the Indo-Hungarian Fusion Concert by Agnes Herczku (Vocal), Róbert Sinha (Classical Guitar) and Johar Ali Khan (Violin). Six performances were held in 2010, witnessing bands from different European countries and the Middle-East: Mynta a fusion band from Sweden, Rockfour a psychedelic rock band from Israel, Francesca Cassio & Simone Schiru from Italy, jazz quartet Maria Anadon from Portugal, DJ Destro from Spain and a violinist trio from Czech Republic. These events were attended in large numbers and became the most successful events of Rendezvous that year.

Competitions

Duo Dance Competition

A lot of competitive events are held throughout the four days of Rendezvous. Competitions are held pre-dominantly in the genres of Dance, Dramatics, Music, Fine Arts, Indoor Sports, Film and Photography (Digital), Literature, Debating and Quizzing. Teams from various colleges participate in these events to win prizes and showcase their talents. Some of these events have been very popular and attract a lot of participation from various colleges due to huge prizes and celebrity judges involved. Some of these are Street Play, Stage Play, Western and Eastern Group Song Competition, Cue Games, Street Painting, Quizzing Events, Parliamentary debate, Photography and Ad-Mad. There are also many events that are not on an inter-college level, like LAN Gaming, Solo Singing and Dancing, Treasure Hunt, Graphic Designing which attract a lot of participation. In 2012, an art and photography exhibition was set up to give a platform to young college artists all over Delhi to showcase their works along with professional artists.

Other Events

Apart from the Pro-Nights, the Music Festival Confluence, Informals and Competitions, Rendezvous also organizes a lot of other events where people can come and watch the masters of different trades perform at their best. Saaz, the Indian Classical Musical performance is organized as a major event which is attended by people from all ages. Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan (in 2012, 2009), and Shubha Mudgal (in 2011) have performed in Saaz in the past. Fusion Night is an event where Fusion Bands perform, which have combined the genres of Indian Classical and Western Rock into single. Indian Ocean, Advaita and Mrigya have performed in this event in the past. Loat Poat, the hasya kavi sammelan is an event where the laughter kings like Papa CJ, Surinder Sharma and Shambhu Shikhar have performed and made people laugh. This event is very popular and people from all ages come to see this event. Trendz is the Pre-Elimination Event of Lifestyle, which is held in a place outside IIT Delhi, usually a Shopping mall. Zeitgeist, first held in 2010, is the pre-elimination round of Blitkrieg and was held in four different cities- Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi.

Celebrity guests

Rendezvous has hosted many artists and personalities on its stage in the past. Some of them are Rabbi Shergill,^[13] Javed Ali,^[14] Anushka Sharma,^[15] John Abraham,^[16] Ranveer Singh,^[15] Deepika Padukone,^[17] Imran Khan,^[17] Tania Sachdev,^[15] Sunil Chhetri and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Stars of Band Baaja Baraat in OAT in 2010

Foreign Bands like Malefice,^[18] Textures and Mindsnare have performed in Blitzkrieg in the recent past. Indian Bands like Prestorika, Agnee, Parikrama, TAAQ, Vayu, Faridkot have performed in the Pro-Nights as well. Celebrated performers like Farhan Akhtar, KK, Kailash Kher,^[19] Mohit Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal and Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan have also performed here. Confluence hosted many foreign bands in 2010 as a part of the International Music Festival.

References

External links

• Official website
• Facebook Page
• IIT Delhi