The 20th Pune Festival will begin on September 5. A fusion of music, dance and melody, the opening ceremony of the festival, scheduled to take place at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, will be inaugurated by Industry Minister Ashok Chavan. The festival will continue till September 14.
Suresh Kalmadi, chairman, Pune festival said, "The inaugural ceremony includes awards to eminent personalities from various fields. This year, awards will be given to actor Nilu Phule, wrestler Harishchandra Birajdar and badminton quarter finalist in Beijing Olympics Saina Nehwal".
He said, "As this is the 20th year of the festival, we are starting an academy that would promote local talent on a national level".
An added attraction of the inaugural show will be Ganesh Parampara, a unique presentation on the journey of the Ganesh festival from Shivaji era to the present day, a dance show by Sonali Kulkarni and Sharvari Jemenis called Colours of India, a medley fusion programme by Malaika Arora Khan and Jai Hind, an audio visual by Durga Jasraj.
On September 6, the festival will showcase performances by Yogini Gandhi, Vijay Ghate, Pandit Ajay Pohankar and Abhijeet Pohankar. Noted performers like Odissi dancer Raminder Khurana, singer Daler Mehendi and Hema Malini would entertain the audience.
The festival will take place at various locations across the city like Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha and Balgandharva Rang Mandir. TIE
