Iconic Ramanavami music festival goes hybrid

Annual event kickstarts from April 13, over 350 artistes to perform

The 83rd Sree Ramanavami Global Music Festival will be a hybrid online-offline affair this year. The festival, set to feature around 350 artistes, will be held at Fort High School Grounds, Chamarajpet, from April 13 to May 13.

Due to the Covid-19-forced lockdown, the festival had adorned a digital avatar last year. The concert, run by Ramaseva Mandali, Ramanavami Celebrations Trust, was founded by SVN Rao.

In the last two decades, Rao’s son S N Varadaraj, general secretary and managing trustee, has handled the event.

In the past, the festival has drawn huge crowds. If a single day attracted around 10,000 music lovers, the entire event would witness a participation of five lakh people.

Varadaraj says that seating capacity has been reduced by 90 per cent for this edition. “We have less than 1,000 seats, and the concerts will be showcased online via Shaale.com and Zoom. We expect our viewership to reach 25 lakh people,” he says.

The organisers said protective measures against Covid-19 will be adopted. “The pandal size will remain the same but people will be seated more than six-feet distance apart. We will also keep sanitisers at 100 points,” says Varadaraj.

Last year, artistes like Dr Mysore Manjunath and Mysore Nagaraj performed from their homes.

“We hosted 10 concerts online and each concert garnered 40,000 to 45,000 viewers. This year, we have 31 concerts online,” he says.

The challenges of going hybrid aren’t many, says Varadaraj. “Most music lovers want to come to the pandal, which is not possible. All event pass holders will get complimentary online access, so that they can choose to see the concert at home too,” he says.

He adds that the Mandali’s ‘rasikas’, many now living abroad, had always longed for an online version.

“The pandemic pushed us to fullfil their demands. We also have ‘rasikas’ from far ends of the city like Whitefield. The online space suits them,” he says.

Attractions

The event will kickstart with a Carnatic music concert by Abhishek Raghuram and company. Violin duet concert by Ganesh and Kumaresh, Harikatha concert by Vishaka Hari and party, Carnatic music concert by popular playback singer Vijay Prakash, and Mysore Nagaraj and Dr Mysore Manjunath, are the other attractions.

A Carnatic music concert by playback singer Sid Sriram is also scheduled. There is Jugalbandhi featuring Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr Mysore Manjunath, Salil Bhat and Sumanth Manjunath.

‘Over the Moon’ Concert by L Shankar and Padma Bhushana A K Palanivel, and a special dance programme by Nirupama Rajendra on the last day, are other highlights.

How to get tickets?

Tickets are priced at Rs 300 (unreserved and limited seats), Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000. Online ticket prices are Rs 3,800 for the entire event while daily events can be watched for Rs 200 each.

Buy access and watch on shaale.com/watch/ramanavami or purchase tickets on www.ramanavamitickets.com

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