THERE WAS something for everyone in the annual socio-cultural festival of IITBhubaneswar, Alma Fiesta. For the geeks and the nerds, for the diligent and the callous, for the grave and the jolly, this year’s Alma Fiesta had everything to cater to all choices of interest.
The festival was planned in such a way that students were not immersed in just fun and music; they also got involved in different social issues such as finding innovative ideas to counter future social problems.
This year, the mascot of Alma Fiesta was Speedy – the Turtle, said Anshuman Kumar, chief coordinator for the fest.
Chairman of board of governors IIT-Bhubaneswar P Rama Rao inaugurated the three-day event at Janata Maidan on January 14. The inaugural evening saw a brilliant one-hour performance ‘Leela’ by differently-abled members of Swabhiman, which works towards the development of differentlyabled children. “The main attraction of Leela was a deaf and dumb girl who danced Odissi and other dance forms just by following the hand beats of her trainer. It gave goose bumps to everyone present in the audience,” said Anshuman.
The second day of the fest began with kite flying competition to revive the age-old tradition of Makar Sankranti. Highlight of the day was performance by Cynical Recess, a famous band from Kolkata.
Prior to this, several other bands from across the country battled for the best band position at Euophony.
The fest also had something for those with an artistic bent of mind.
Events like Blind Strokes, Leaf it Up, Shadez and Clix provided students a platform to express their creative imagination. There were also workshops on Origami, sand art and animation.
“For youngsters who loved dramatics, events like Face Off, μte-on, Parody Paradise - the hilarious movie spoof competition, were held,” said Anshuman, adding this were followed by TopsyTurvy, the group dance competition, BIZZ IT, the business quiz and Alma Fiesta Youth Quiz.
Apart from fun activities, the social aspects of the fest were highlighted through events like Perspective, the social case study competition, N-Circled - the street play competition and Trashcan Novelties where participants were urged to present something creative from trash. On the third day of the fest, a youth marathon was organised by the Alma Fiesta along with PETA and Red Cross to create awareness on Olive Ridley turtles.
As many as 250 students along with locals participated in the marathon.
The valedictory function was marked by star performance by Bollywood singer Krishna Beura.
Over 200 colleges from within the State and outside including IITKharagpur took part in this fest.
“When a festival is infused with an element of fund and entertainment it appeals to the masses,” said Anshuman adding that students of both technical or non-technical colleges participated in different competitions.
diana@expressbuzz.com