The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is annual festival, nine days long, commencing always on the first Saturday of February and closing is always on the second Sunday in February, in the

Kala Ghoda Kala Ghoda ( IPA:Kāḷā Ghōḍā,(काला घोडा)') is a crescent-shaped art district in Mumbai, India. It hosts several of the city's heritage buildings including museums, art galleries and educational institutions like the Ch ...

area of South

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. From its inception in 1999, the Festival has grown in stature and popularity, attracting visitors and participants from other parts of the country, and the world. The Festival is organised by the Kala Ghoda Association (a non-profit organisation that states its objectives as "physically upgrading the Kala Ghoda sub-precinct and making it the Art District of Mumbai") and curated by teams handling each of the 12 sections of the festival.

Overview

The festival sections are visual arts, dance, music, theatre, cinema, literature including children's literature as a sub section, workshops, heritage walks, urban design and architecture (2014), food, a dedicated section for children, and a vibrant street section including stalls selling eco friendly, hand made arts and crafts wares. Entry to all events is free to all (only restricted by the size of the venues) and costs are met through corporate sponsorship. Venues include The auditorium at the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

, the garden at the

David Sassoon Library The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room is a famous library and heritage structure in Mumbai, India. The idea for a library to be situated in the center of the city came from Albert Sassoon, son of the famous Baghdadi Jewish philanthropist ...

, the lawns and auditoriums at the CSMVS, The Museum, Mumbai, the Cross Maidan, the Horniman Circle garden, the M C Ghia Hall, the Cafeteria at Westside, the Tata store at Army and Navy Building, the Max Mueller Bhavan (MMB) Gallery and the entire street area of Kaikashru Dubash Marg and its parking lot, popularly called Rampart Row. Rampart Row is closed off to vehicular traffic for the duration of the festival, with the entire area becoming a street '' mela'', with food stalls, artisans selling their creations, artists who sketch instant portraits, street art installations and the like. In recent years, the Festival has expanded beyond the Kala Ghoda crescent, with events being held in Cross Maidan and

Horniman Circle The Horniman Circle Gardens is a large park in South Mumbai, India, which encompasses an area of 2½ acres (10,100 m²). It is situated in the Fort district of Mumbai, and is surrounded by office complexes housing the country's premier banks. ...

as well. The success of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has, arguably, encouraged the setting up of several other arts and cultural festivals at that time of the year, when the weather in Mumbai is cool and the sun sets early. These include the Mumbai Festival, the Celebrate Bandra Festival, and in 2007, the Kitab Festival. The festival has also featured noticeable music acts like Spencer Maybe, Indus Creed,

Benny Dayal Benny Dayal (born 13 May 1984) is an Indian playback singer. He is a prominent singer in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi and more languages films. He has sung more than 3500 songs in 19+ Indian lan ...

and Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2012

File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-1.JPG, Giant Crow File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-2.JPG, Horse File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-3.JPG, Electronic VW Mini File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-4.JPG, Dancing Girl File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-5.JPG, Noise all around File:Kala Ghoda festival 2012-6.JPG, Sand Art

References

External links

The Kala Ghoda Association official site
{{coord missing, Maharashtra Arts festivals in India Festivals established in 1999 Festivals in Mumbai Tourist attractions in Mumbai