Tag: Performing Arts

Events in Goa

Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 Opens in Panjim with a Grand Celebration of Heritage and Innovation

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

The landmark 10th edition of Serendipity Arts Festival opened in Panjim on December 12 with a powerful celebration of India’s cultural heritage and contemporary artistic expression. Returning to Goa for ten days of immersive experiences, the opening day reflected the festival’s enduring vision of bridging tradition and innovation through art.

The evening commenced with the inauguration of Barge at the Captain of Ports Jetty in Old Goa, where Founder-Patron Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal welcomed audiences to the milestone edition. Reflecting on the journey of the festival, he described Serendipity Arts as a movement that has grown into a shared cultural space connecting artists, communities, and audiences across disciplines. The 10th edition, he noted, is dedicated to Mukta Munjal, whose early initiatives in the arts continue to inspire the festival’s spirit.

Curated by Veerangana Solanki, Barge transformed a floating structure into an experiential space exploring absence and presence through spatial, architectural, and sonic responses. Drawing from earlier exhibitions, the installation invited visitors to activate the space through movement, sound, and perception, leaving behind fleeting yet personal imprints.

The opening continued at Nagalli Hills with Palette(s), a striking performance by Cédric Gagneur and Marc Oosterhoff that reimagined wooden pallets as both object and collaborator. Blurring the lines between dance and circus, the performance explored gravity, vulnerability, and repetition in a raw and physical expression.

The night concluded with Clay Play, curated by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, a mesmerizing performance that foregrounded percussion instruments crafted from clay. Rooted deeply in Goan traditions, the sounds of the ghumat and other instruments resonated through the space, reaffirming their place as living cultural practices rather than relics of the past.

Across the city, Beasts of Reincarnations: Mythical Beings in the City began appearing along Panjim’s streets and waterfronts. Curated by Diptej Vernekar, the large-scale installations reimagined Goa’s effigy-making traditions, inviting the public to encounter ritual memory through forms suspended between destruction, renewal, and contemporary urban life.

As the festival unfolds, exhibitions opening from December 14 will further expand this dialogue. These include Not a shore, neither a ship, but the sea itself at the Old GMC Complex, OTHERLAND at the Old GMC Building, and several immersive installations exploring systems, food memory, loss, movement, and sensory experience across multiple venues.

Day 1 of Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 set a compelling tone for the days ahead, weaving together local and global voices, traditional and contemporary practices, and transforming Panjim into a living, breathing canvas of artistic discovery.

Events in Goa

Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 Unveils Landmark Children’s Programming in Its 10th Anniversary Edition

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

This December, Panjim, Goa, will host the 10th edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival, transforming the city’s heritage spaces into a vibrant celebration of creativity across visual arts, theatre, dance, music, craft, design, photography, and culinary innovation. From 12–21 December 2025, the festival will occupy over 300,000 square feet across iconic venues, including The Old GMC Complex, Art Park, Kala Academy, and more, presenting a rich panorama of contemporary South Asian culture.

This milestone edition places a special focus on children, transforming the festival into an artistic playground where young audiences are active participants, creators, and storytellers. The carefully curated children’s programming spans themes from the environment and food to music, film, literature, and mindfulness. Activities include interactive workshops, storytelling sessions, film-making labs, animation projects, hands-on art and craft, and wellness experiences, ensuring every child discovers a unique way to engage with the arts.

Highlights include “Once Upon a Taste,” a food futures workshop led by Usha Chhabra and Thomas Zacharias, where children aged 8–12 explore the stories and futures hidden in food, culminating in their own creative “Cookbook for Tomorrow.” Other storytelling sessions explore Goan culture, wildlife conservation, folktales, and marine life. Artistic workshops introduce embroidery, weaving, terracotta, and crochet, while science and nature activities, architecture projects, and filmmaking experiences encourage curiosity and imagination. Mindfulness, emotional awareness, and musical exploration round out the festival’s immersive program for children.

Over the past decade, Serendipity Arts Festival has evolved into a platform that nurtures creativity in all its forms, fostering empathy, cultural understanding, and a lifelong love for the arts. Founder Patron Sunil Kant Munjal emphasizes that children are the greatest source of imagination, and the festival seeks to empower them to experience art joyfully and participatorily. Director Smriti Rajgarhia notes that the children’s programming is designed not only to engage but to give children confidence, creativity, and ownership of artistic expression. Co-Founding Patron Shefali Munjal reflects on ten years of impact, expressing gratitude for the artists, audiences, and partners who have helped build a movement that champions creativity as a force for social change.

Registrations for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 are now open. Families and young creatives are invited to join this vibrant celebration of imagination and culture in Panjim, Goa, from 12–21 December 2025, and participate in what promises to be the festival’s most ambitious and joyful children’s programming yet.

Events in Goa

The Legends of Khasak: A Spellbinding Journey into Magical Realism at Serendipity Arts Festival 2025

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

This December, Goa’s riverfront city of Panjim will come alive as the Serendipity Arts Festival celebrates its tenth milestone edition from December 12 to 21, 2025. Among the highlights of this year’s festival is The Legends of Khasak, an immersive Malayalam-language theatrical production that promises to transport audiences into a world of magical realism.

Curated by renowned theatre scholar Anuradha Kapur and directed by celebrated Kerala-based theatre director Deepan Sivaraman, the play is an adaptation of O.V. Vijayan’s groundbreaking novel Khasakkinte Itihasam (The Legends of Khasak). It will debut in Goa for the first time with performances scheduled from December 17 to 20 at 6:30 PM at the Sports Authority of Goa ground.

Set against the backdrop of a riverside playground, The Legends of Khasak is designed as a sensorial and philosophical experience rather than a conventional stage play. The production blends fire, water, soil, scent, fog, and the vast open sky into its narrative, creating a powerful, immersive environment. Drawing from Kerala’s traditional art forms such as Theyyam, puppetry, and mask performance, the play unfolds the story of a young man who arrives in a remote Kerala village to teach, only to be drawn into its mythical, dreamlike landscape where reality and imagination intertwine.

According to Festival Director Smriti Rajgarhia, the open-air performance “unfolds like a dream, supported by a rich sensory experience.” It uses the natural elements of the environment as part of the storytelling, challenging the boundaries between theatre, ritual, and the viewer’s imagination.

The production features a stellar ensemble, including P.C. Gopala Krishnan, K.V. Krishnan Mash, P. Baskaran Master, Kumar Pariyacheri, and C.K. Sudheer, with music by Chandran Veyyattummal. Together, they create an atmosphere where folklore, philosophy, and emotion merge to form an unforgettable artistic journey.

Now in its tenth year, the Serendipity Arts Festival stands as one of South Asia’s largest multidisciplinary cultural events. The 2025 edition marks a decade of creativity, cultural exchange, and community engagement through visual arts, music, theatre, dance, design, photography, and culinary arts. Over 300,000 square feet of heritage venues across Panjim—from the Old GMC Complex to Kala Academy—will transform into spaces of imagination and collaboration.

Registrations for the festival are now open, inviting audiences from across the world to join this ten-day celebration of art, culture, and creative exploration.

Human Interest

Lavina Vishwanath Pai Bir Wins First Place in Bharatanatyam at IIAF Vietnam

Tanisha Cardozo

Ms. Lavina Vishwanath Pai Bir has achieved a remarkable milestone by securing First Place in Bharatanatyam at the International Indian Art Festival (IIAF) held in Vietnam. Her dedication, discipline, and love for the art form have culminated in this prestigious recognition on an international stage.

A devoted student of classical dance, Lavina’s journey is deeply rooted in years of rigorous training under her Nritya Guru, Jhaanvi Bondre of the Siddhakala Dance Institute. Her performance not only showcased technical precision but also conveyed the spiritual depth and expressive grace that define Bharatanatyam.

This proud accomplishment reflects the collective effort and guidance of her Guru, the unwavering support of her family, and her own artistic commitment. It is a moment of joy and inspiration for the Siddhakala Dance Institute, and a source of immense pride for the Pai Bir and Kenkre families.

Lavina’s victory at IIAF Vietnam stands as a shining example of how Indian classical dance continues to inspire and connect cultures across borders — celebrating the timeless beauty of tradition through the language of art.

National

Goa’s Nirbhay Bhav Group Secures 3rd Place at National Performing Arts Championship 2025

Tanisha Cardozo

In a shining moment for Goa’s vibrant cultural scene, the Nirbhay Bhav Group achieved a remarkable 3rd position at the prestigious National Performing Arts Championship 2025. Held on the 5th of October in the culturally rich city of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, the event saw participation from top-performing teams across India including Haryana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand.

Representing Goa, the team stood out with their passionate performance and dedication to the arts. Under the inspiring leadership of Dhiraj Naik, Nirbhay Bhav brought not just talent but discipline, originality, and a deep-rooted connection to cultural heritage to the national platform. The achievement marks a significant milestone for the group and the state, adding yet another feather to Goa’s artistic cap.

The team’s journey doesn’t end here. Buoyed by their success and national recognition, the Nirbhay Bhav Group is now setting its sights on participating in upcoming national and international performing arts championships. Their vision is clear—to carry the spirit and talent of Goan culture beyond borders and onto the global stage.

This victory is not just a celebration of a performance—it’s a testament to the power of dedication, leadership, and the universal language of art that connects us all.