FOUR hundred art stalls, 20,000 places to shop, 52 theatrical productions.
The Mumbai Festival is back and for 13 days in January (14-26), the city will play host to a wide variety of participants from rural craftsmen to jazz musicians from Germany.
This year festival organisers want to involve more members of the community.
‘‘Most people think that Mumbai exists only between Churchgate and Bandra, we want to shatter this myth,’’ said Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhary, at a press conference to announce the event.
To deal with the shortage of accommodation during the tourist season, the festival is trying to popularise the ‘Live with an Indian family’, home stay concept for foreign visitors.
‘‘We’ll also be organising the youth from different areas into disaster management units—doctors, engineers and nurses who can contribute in case of a mishap,’’ said festival chairman and industrialist Kamal Morarka.
Smaller events like gully cricket, autorickshaw races and dahi handi contests will try and reach out to different segments of society.
The popular cultural attractions from last year remain. At Bandra Reclamation, the crafts festival christened Indiyeah, will host 400 stalls with artisans from across the country.
‘‘For the performances, there’s a group from South Africa that uses Bharatnatyam, a German jazz band with Indian group members and folk musicians from Nigeria,’’ said organiser Siddharth Kak.
The theatre festival organised by producer Ashwin Gidwani will present 52 plays by city thespians at the PL Deshpande Hall, Prabhadevi.
The shopping festival will offer discounts and with raffle counters at 20,000 stores across the city. And the Gateway festival is an open platform for designers, dancers and musicians.
Bollywood representative Ashutosh Gowariker says that 12 cinematic classics will be screened at venues around the city. ‘‘Celebrities will also make appearances at different places to create a hype.’’
The organisers claim that everyone from a film star to a dabbawallah will find their niche at this year’s festivities.
What’s new
Food festivals in 10 locations compared to two, last year
A kite-flying festival
Activities with senior citizens at Nana-Nani parks
Local events like gully cricket and dahi handi competitions