IIT Guwahati Cultural Fest Commencing from Feb 3

Guwahati: The cultural festival of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati’s namely 'Alcheringa' will commence from February 3, 2011. The festival in its 15th edition is all set to rock the stage with some renowned names in the fields of music, dance and drama.

As per sources, the inaugural day would host a Sarod and Saarangi fusion followed by Sur which will have the Indian band Advaita performing for the first time in Guwahati. Moreover, their music will be a blend of western and classical Indian instruments.

In addition, Blitzkrieg and Juggernaut are among the other highlights that are anticipated to draw in large crowds. Also, osn the fourth night of the event, Crescendo will have the famous Indian film singer KK (Krishna Kumar) perform live. Like before, Alcheringa will host Rock-O-Phonix, the biggest rock festival in North-east India. This event would witness performances from some of the biggest bands of the country and the winner of the event will receive a huge cash award. Also on stake, is a sponsored tour from MyBand.

Also, Alcheringa, this time is hosting a theatre festival for the first time. This festival will include Kacche Lamhae a play written by Javed Siddiqi. The second in the line-up of plays in the theatre festival is The Hallway Chronicles by the Chennai-based theatre group Stray-Factory. The festival also introduces a sports module for the first time. It includes a five-on-five football competition and an arm-wrestling competition.

Furthermore, this year, the event will feature a dance performance by Daksha Sheth Dance Company led by Isha Sharvani. A true original, Sheth, a former Kathak dancer has developed a striking blend of martial arts, yoga and aerial dance. In addition, the festival for the first time is organizing a talk series by people from the film and fashion industry. Indian actress, Shriya Saran shall be a part of the festival. The caricaturist, Padma Shri awardee Sudhir Tailang will hold a talk and a workshop on the art of caricatures as a part of Alcheringa 2011.

The Performing Arts module will encompass events, which test the participants in linguistic and emotional expression. The events include Theatrix - the drama competition, Khamoshi - the silent act, Halla Bol - the street play competition, Spot Light - an impromptu test for the audience, LoL - the stand-up comedy competition. Alcheringa also includes Alfaaz-the annual literary festival of IIT Guwahati. This edition of Alfaaz includes a classical debate competition - War of Words, a script writing competition - Sukoripto and Turncoat. The topics and the rules for the classical debate competition can be acquired from the website of the festival.

Details regarding the events and the organizers can be found at www.alcheringa.in.