– An InitiativeAimed AtRestoring TheGlory OfThe City Of Joy –
Kolkata, 14thOctober, 2022: Kolkata, established more than 300 years ago, was hailed as the jewel in the crown of erstwhile rulers. It was the richest province in the British Empire and a delightful medley of rich arts, crafts, and culture other than being the coveted centre of commerce and industry.But present-day inhabitants of the state inevitably declare during their ruminations,”How much longer do we continue to bask in our past glory when other states have clearly taken the lead?”
To address this very pertinent issue, ‘Make Calcutta Relevant Again’announced the launch of the first edition of‘The CCU Festival’. The innovative and optimistic event seeks to celebratesome wonderful facets of Calcutta -sustainability, fitness, design, innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, foodand music.Striving to restore Calcutta’s pride and present the city as a dynamic, innovative and future-looking city.To address this issue, young passionate change makers from the city under the banner of ‘Make Calcutta Relevant Again’announced the launch. The CCU Festival will be held on Saturday, 29thOctober, 2022 from 9 am – 2 am at Taal Kutir Convention Centre.
“The city has been synonymous with innovation, sports, good living, art and culture in all imaginable fields. Make Calcutta Relevant Again is proud to curate and launch The CCU Festival that endeavours to the lost glory of Calcutta by shining a light on stories that ought to be told to the world. The festival is an attempt to 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. This type of multidisciplinary festival has never happened before in the city and also, it’s a fully collaborative festival. We are thankful to all the dignitaries who have come here today and also to the sponsors who have come forward to support this initiative”, said Mr Meghdut Roychowdhury, Founder, Make Calcutta Relevant Again and Chief Innovation Officer, Techno India Group.
The CCU Festival logo was unveiled in the presence of Mr Nick Low, Hon’ble British Deputy High Commissioner to Kolkata; Mr Manfred Auster, Hon’ble Consul General, German Consulate; Mr Manish Pandey, Consultant to India’s Biggest Content Companies and Coach to Content Creators; Mr Amyt Dutta, Musician; Mr Sushil Reddy, Guinness Book of Records Holder & Founder, Sun Pedal Ride; Dr Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director – East & North East, British Council India; Mr Sharanya Chattopadhyay representing Goethe – Institut,Max Mueller Bhavan; Mr Aaquib Hussain, Founding Partner at Freeflow Venture Builders; Ms Pauline Laravoire, Co-Founder and CEO, Y-East, & Sustainability Director, Techno India Group and Mr Meghdut Roychowdhury, Founder, Make Calcutta Relevant Again and Chief Innovation Officer, Techno India Group, who shared their views on the need of this unique initiative.
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“The CCU Festival will have 14 events that we would be hosting in 17 hours. The event will also feature a creators fest bringing together 500 creators under the same 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, and further supported and implemented by the Embassy of Spain in India, Instituto Cervantes, the Goethe Institut, General Consulates of Germany and Italy, Alliance Française, British Council and Y-East. All these international partners have come together to celebrate Kolkata, particularly from the angle of sustainability in the city.”, said Ms Pauline Laravoire, Co-Founder & CEO, Y-East & Sustainability Director, 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 a 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.”
The events that will make The CCU Festival a class-apart initiative are: FLOPTCH(Day-long deal flows &start-up exhibition), MRKT(All-day flea market ft. Curated Local and National Brands), CCU GOT SOUL(All-day live music, busking and comedy bringing life to MRKT and the Festival), BLPRNT (Design Convention for designs that touch and change life), BUIDL (Web3 Convention to plunge into new technology universes), JAMSTEADY (Live Music by Top Local, National & International Artists), CYPHER (Live performances from local Hip-Hop artists and Beatboxers), MOTOR CORTEX (Audio-visual electronic dance music experience ft. national and international DJs), MKKM (Sustainability Convention to shed light on sustainable urban solutions), CLOUT (First-of-its-kind Content Creators Convention),FLOW (The Fitness Convention),DSRPT (Innovation Convention to leverage the latest trends and most innovative brands and talents) &FINE DINE (Invite-only VIP Networking Dinner).
Tickets for participation will be available at https://www.makecalcuttarelevantagain.com/event-details/ccutickets.
The CCU Festival is supported byTalkutir Convention Centre, Taj Hotels, NKDA, New Town Smart City, UNESCO, MSME&T Department, Gov of WB, Velocity1, Venture Catalysts, Auli, Smoke Inc., Caldera, Neeman’s, Hulladek Recycling, Master Mentors, Folk, Founders’ Circle, Innovators over Coffee, Y-East, Twirl.store, Free Flow, Creatory, Banglanatak.com, E365, Bongo Delphic, Calcutta Cacophony, Indian Silicon Valley Podcast, Wings, Builders Of Web3, Paytm Insider, BlooperHouse Studiosand Saday.
About Make Calcutta Relevant Again:
Young people in Calcutta are eager to build something new #MakeCalcuttaRelevantAgain, helps them do that. Under the initiative, sponsorships are provided to upcoming creators and they are helped to showcase their work with top-notch mentors and industry experts who help them take their creations to the next level. The aim is to bring back Calcutta’s Glory and not only bring it back but take it to the next level through constant disruption and innovation.