About Celebrate Bandra
Celebrate Bandra will march towards its fourth biennial event on November 14-29, 2009. Each festival has a theme: in 2007 it was Heritage and in 2005, Education. This year, we are celebrating Bandra's Environment.
Unlike many other suburbs, Bandra's geography is clearly defined by its coastline to the west, and the railway line to the east and, after all, it is the first suburb on the western seafront, all of which give it its very own identity.
In this festival, the Environment will embrace primarily its natural surroundings, of which the coast is the jewel in its crown. Cheek by jowl with the coast are the mangroves, sturdy guardians that nature has bestowed on this suburb. Residents' associations, which are the backbone of Celebrate Bandra, have given the coast a clear edge by building the two popular promenades on Carter Road and Bandstand, along with the Fort Amphitheatre which is the main venue for the festival's events. A third core association has obtained permission from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to use its promenade for the festival.
The environment also comprises buildings – of which Bandra is blessed with the remnants of the Portuguese Fort, ancient churches and fishing villages. But there is also the lived environment, which is the vibrant, throbbing culture which is unique to Bandra and which every festival celebrates with verve and vigour. In 2007, short plays written by residents were performed in three villages, to packed audiences.
We are already working to ensure that the festival gets bigger and more varied this year, with lots of music, painting, theatre, dance, literary events, sports, food events and others to liven up the last fortnight in November. Jazz Utsav will be staged on the week-end bang in the middle of the festival. We also plan to take some events out of the suburbs for the first time: you can, after all, always spread the spirit of Bandra further afield!
In keeping with our objective of showcasing local talent during the festival and raising funds for socially purposeful projects in the suburb, we have donated school buses from the proceeds of previous festivals to the St. Catherine of Siena Welfare Society for Destitute Children at Mount Mary and the NGO - Aseema Charitable Trust, which runs a school for underprivileged children. The Welfare Society authorities report, with pride, that this school has defeated several others in inter-school events, since the children are now mobile for the first time in their lives. We are still short-listing other deserving projects to fund in Bandra with proceeds from 2007.
An innovation in 2007 was a series of events under the banner of “Bandra with a Heart”, which will be carried forward this year. The objective is to involve our less fortunate fellow residents and showcase their talent in different spheres.
We invite you to join us in Celebrating Bandra. You will be rubbing shoulders with everyone who wants to be associated with the buzz that is Bandra. We look forward to having you with us!
Darryl D'Monte, Chairman & Convenor, Celebrate Bandra, March 2009