Spring Fest
Encyclopedia
Spring Fest, popularly known as SF, is the annual social & cultural festival of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur held during the month of January in the spring semester. The Spring Fest is held for 4 nights and 3 days on the weekend closest to 26 January, India's Republic Day.
There are other just-for-kicks events that are kept on running throughout the day and usually provide entertainment to the partcipants in-between the main events. Some of these events, such asPerpz, the all-day dance floor with a DJ and a jukebox complete, and Frolic-o-Holic are always crowded.
The official website of the fest is www.springfest.in
s of music are wide and varied and involve pop, rock and fusion bands. The venue for these events is the Tagore Open Air Theater (TOAT) which usually gets packed to its full capacity during the "Star-Nites" as the students, faculty members turn up in huge numbers to see the shows. The security for these events is very tight and is managed by the students themselves. For latecomers, it is usually impossible to get a seat inside TOAT and sights such as students hanging on tree branches and on the high TOAT walls to catch a glimpse of the concert are not uncommon. These are some of the biggest concerts in Eastern India and attract a huge number of non-IIT Kharagpur students as well. Famous Indian artistes like Pritam
, Kailash Kher, KK
, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Shaan
, Sunidhi Chauhan
, Shankar Mahadevan
, Shivamani, Sukhwinder Singh
and classical performers such as Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya
, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
, L. Sriram, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
, Pandit Divyang Vakil
have performed here. Bands like Kryptos
, Parikrama
, Euphoria
, Indian Ocean
, Strings etc. have also been performing here.
International bands like Breathe, the Floyd Sound, Led Zepplica and TesseracT have also performed on the famous Spring Fest stage. Last year's major performance was by Cassini's Division, the alternative rock band from Kolkata that has been featured as the finalist of Channel [V]'s LaunchPad and the renowned Sutasi Festival.
Another notable event is Wildfire which involves a competition between rock bands from various colleges. The event culminates in the finalists playing in an all-out live concert on the last night of SF. For Indian music buffs, there is a popular eastern music group competition called Sargam.
India and The Telegraph
, Kolkata). The core-team is formed around seven to eight months before the event. This team consists of student team heads and members. The team is largely responsible for garnering sponsorship for the event from external agencies, such as companies in India and also conducts publicity of the events throughout colleges in India during the year. During SF, the team performs coordinative tasks to make sure the events run smoothly and the guests and sponsors are catered to.
The individual events are handled by event-specific teams managed by student heads, sub-heads and volunteers. The pre-event tasks, like putting-up of banners, internal publicity, security, student accommodation, transportation, guest reception, and arena design, are distributed among the heads and members of the core organizing team.
Activities
During the fest, students from IIT Kharagpur and from different colleges all over the country participate in a plethora of socio-cultural activities. Most of these are day events which involve dramatics, music and dance competitions, fine-arts contests, quizzes, and other literary events. Other non-competition based events include Star-Talk which involves talks/conferences by eminent personalities from a variety of fields. The number of these events is particularly large and serves to cater to the very large number of participants — both local as well as from other colleges all over the country.There are other just-for-kicks events that are kept on running throughout the day and usually provide entertainment to the partcipants in-between the main events. Some of these events, such asPerpz, the all-day dance floor with a DJ and a jukebox complete, and Frolic-o-Holic are always crowded.
The official website of the fest is www.springfest.in
Star Nites
The evenings are notable for "Star-Nites" — the biggest events in Spring Fest which usually involve live concerts by some of the most famous musicians and bands in South Asia. The genreGenre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s of music are wide and varied and involve pop, rock and fusion bands. The venue for these events is the Tagore Open Air Theater (TOAT) which usually gets packed to its full capacity during the "Star-Nites" as the students, faculty members turn up in huge numbers to see the shows. The security for these events is very tight and is managed by the students themselves. For latecomers, it is usually impossible to get a seat inside TOAT and sights such as students hanging on tree branches and on the high TOAT walls to catch a glimpse of the concert are not uncommon. These are some of the biggest concerts in Eastern India and attract a huge number of non-IIT Kharagpur students as well. Famous Indian artistes like Pritam
Pritam
Pritam Chakraborty , better known as Pritam is a music director and composer from Kolkata who currently works in Bollywood, Mumbai.- Early life :...
, Kailash Kher, KK
KK
-People:* KK , an Icelandic musician* KK Null, a Japanese musician* Kenneth Kaunda, a Zambian politician* Krishnakumar Kunnath, an Indian playback singer* Kishore Kumar, an Indian playback singer* Kay Kay Menon , an Indian actor...
, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Shaan
Shaan (singer)
Shaan , is an Indian playback singer, and television host. He hosted the shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, Star Voice of India and "Star Voice of India 2"...
, Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films and is credited with over 2000 songs....
, Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.-Early life:...
, Shivamani, Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
and classical performers such as Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya
Debashish Bhattacharya
Debashish Bhattacharya is an Indian classical musician who plays the lap slide guitar.Bhattacharya was born into a musical family in Kolkata, it became apparent that Bhattacharya was skilled at a young age...
, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music.-Early life:Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in...
, L. Sriram, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt also known as V. M. Bhatt is an Indian slide guitar player. Bhatt is the creator of the Mohan Veena...
, Pandit Divyang Vakil
Pandit Divyang Vakil
Pandit Divyang Vakil , is a Indian tabla guru , composer, spiritual guide and healer.-Musical career:...
have performed here. Bands like Kryptos
Kryptos
Kryptos is an encrypted sculpture by American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. Since its dedication on November 3, 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the encrypted messages it bears...
, Parikrama
Parikrama
For meaning of word see Parikrama .Parikrama is a Rock and Roll band from Delhi, India. They have several live performances and original numbers to their name. The band was officially formed on June 17, 1991 in Delhi...
, Euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria is an emotional and mental state defined as a sense of great elation and well being.Euphoria may also refer to:* Euphoria , a genus of scarab beetles* Euphoria, a genus name previously used for the longan and other trees...
, Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, Strings etc. have also been performing here.
International bands like Breathe, the Floyd Sound, Led Zepplica and TesseracT have also performed on the famous Spring Fest stage. Last year's major performance was by Cassini's Division, the alternative rock band from Kolkata that has been featured as the finalist of Channel [V]'s LaunchPad and the renowned Sutasi Festival.
Other notable events
Last year's SF witnessed India Jazz Suites, featuring Pandit Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith, an explosive collaboration between one of India’s foremost Kathak masters and one of the world’s fastest, Emmy-award winning tap dancers. Also featured is Indian classical night Anubhav. Spring Fest's rock band competition, the oldest in India, Wildfire is going nationwide this edition, with prelim rounds in 5 cities - Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata and Mumbai. SF also hosts an inter-collegiate dance competitionCentrifuge. New additions this year include events such as "Get Served", a street dance competition, "SF 201.1 FM", a RJ-ing event, couple of new events in the Dramatics genre among others. SF has always been inaugrated with a live concert by IIT Kharagpur's own eastern musical group — the Eastern Technology Musical Society (ETMS), along with Sanskruthi. This event is held in the Netaji Auditorium (IIT Kharagpur's main indoor auditorium), and being the first event of SF, is very popular.Another notable event is Wildfire which involves a competition between rock bands from various colleges. The event culminates in the finalists playing in an all-out live concert on the last night of SF. For Indian music buffs, there is a popular eastern music group competition called Sargam.
Organization
SF is notable for being the largest student event in the country. Due to this, SF is often cited as one of the prime example showcasing the management skills of IITians in general. The fest is also able to attract a reasonable amount of coverage from the electronic and print-media (MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
India and The Telegraph
The Telegraph (Kolkata)
The Telegraph is an Indian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and the newspaper vies with the Times of India for the position of having the widest widest circulation of any newspaper in Eastern India.According to the Audit...
, Kolkata). The core-team is formed around seven to eight months before the event. This team consists of student team heads and members. The team is largely responsible for garnering sponsorship for the event from external agencies, such as companies in India and also conducts publicity of the events throughout colleges in India during the year. During SF, the team performs coordinative tasks to make sure the events run smoothly and the guests and sponsors are catered to.
The individual events are handled by event-specific teams managed by student heads, sub-heads and volunteers. The pre-event tasks, like putting-up of banners, internal publicity, security, student accommodation, transportation, guest reception, and arena design, are distributed among the heads and members of the core organizing team.