Almost 300 years old, the City of Joy- Kolkata was considered as the jewel in the crown of erstwhile rulers. Known to be a delightful medley of vibrant arts and crafts since its inception, this region was considered as the richest province to be acquired by the British Raj. However, with time and cultural evolution, Kolkata lies in a sad state at present with inhabitants continuously moving out of the city in search of a better living. Many hail the pride we hold in our history as futile and consider other states and cities to have swept past Kolkata.
City born entrepreneur Meghdut Roychowdhury has come up with a unique initiative to address this pertinent issue and named it Make Calcutta Relevant Again. The innovative and optimistic platform has curated an event The CCU Festival, an event that seeks to celebrate some wonderful facets of Calcutta -sustainability, fitness, design, innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, food and music. Striving to restore Calcutta’s pride and present the city as a dynamic, innovative and future-looking city.
The first edition of The CCU Festival will take place on October 29th at Taal Kutir Convention Centre.
“Make Calcutta Relevant Again is proud to curate and launch The CCU Festival. It is a humble attempt to restore the lost glory of Calcutta step by step, by shining a light on stories that ought to be told to the world. The CCU Festival will celebrate Calcutta like never before and find new icons of the city across all disciplines. It will give young people a reason to love the city for what it is. It is the first of its kind a fully collaborative festival”, shares Meghdut Roychowdhury, founder of Make Calcutta Relevant Again and Chief Innovation Officer of Techno India Group.
The CCU Festival logo was unveiled yesterday in the presence of some eminent figures such as Nick Low, Hon’ble British Deputy High Commissioner to Kolkata, Manfred Auster, Hon’ble Consul General, German Consulate, Amyt Dutta, Pauline Laravoire, Co-Founder and CEO, Y-East, & Sustainability Director, Techno India Group and Meghdut himself.
“The CCU Festival will have 14 events within a span of 17 hours. The event will also feature a creator’s fest bringing together around five hundred creators under one roof to foster national level discussion. Eighty investors from across the country, including ones who have never come to Calcutta before, will be present to evaluate and assess the entrepreneurship initiatives. The aim is to thereafter create a thousand start-ups from the East. Another distinct part of the event will be the launch of Moving Kolkata, Kolkata Moving Project, an EU-funded project especially powered by EUNIC Global, European Spaces of Culture,” adds Pauline Laravoire, Co-Founder & CEO of Y-East and Sustainability Director of Techno India Group.
There will be six conventions at The CCU Festival. For each of the selected conventions there will be 3 awards, celebrating history, celebrating the present and celebrating the future. It will be recognition for somebody who has made Kolkata relevant in the past, somebody who is making Kolkata relevant now and somebody who has the potential of making Kolkata relevant in future.
What: The CCU Festival
Where: Taal Kutir Convention Centre
When: October 29th (9am- 2am)
Contact: Tickets for participation will be available at makecalcuttarelevantagain.com