Panaji, Dec 23 (IANS) After eight days of enthralling audiences on a journey of art, craft, dance, music, food, theatre and photography, the first edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival ended on a celebratory note here on Friday evening.
The festival witnessed the coming together of over 500 artistes, 150 volunteers from Goa and other parts of the world.
The grand finale of the Festival was a concert by Coke Studio -- with performances by Bengaluru based psychedelic rock band, Parvaaz, and popular fusion-folk singer Papon at DB Ground here. The banks of the Mandovi river reverberated with applause as the artistes gave viewers a soul-soaring performance.
The last shows of the other acts saw packed houses, whether it was Talatum, a circus theatre act based on a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare's Tempest; NaTyatra, a dance performance choreographed by Rama Vaidyanathan which brought together dancers from across styles, or Singularity, curated by Ranjit Barot and featuring A.R. Rahman's Sunshine Orchestra.
Serendipity Street, located at the Jardim Garcia D'Orta (Municipal Garden) unraveled some of the best imagery depicting convoluting and intricate thoughts captured by over 40 photographers from across the world. Brightly coloured tents at the same venue offered food lovers a taste of authentic Goan cuisine, recipes of which have been handed down from generation to generation.
A hypnotic collection of over 800 creative handmade postcards spread across the Old GMC compound triggered nostalgia in onlookers. An initiative by Post Goa, the "Postcard Project" aimed at bringing to life one of the oldest forms of communication used by people.
Even on its last day, the Festival did not hold back from enticing its attendees with diverse culinary arts workshops and experiences including "Fermentation Workshop" and "Exhibit" with Aditya Raghavan, "Breads" by Sujit Sumithran, "Memory Recipe" by Aruna Ganesh Ram, "The Know and How of Infusions" by Vaibhav held at the Old GMC complex.
From performances and workshops that kept everyone from ages six to 80 years engrossed, to art and craft exhibitions that had art lovers coming back again and again to soak in some more.
Signing off for the year, Sunil Kant Munjal thanked the people of Goa and declared that the exhibitions at the Adil Shah Palace would be extended till the end of January 2017.
He also invited the people of Goa to share their feedback about this edition of the festival to make it stronger and better, when it returns in December 2017.
