Udaan Utsav to focus on contemporary issues

New Delhi: The 4th edition of Udaan Utsav will aim to sensitise the youth about India's contemporary issues and make them aware of the country's cultural diversity.

Organised by Udaan (Unfolding Drama and Acts for Nation), a platform for youth engaged in various mediums of creative expression, the festival will be held here at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) from February 12.

The three-day event will focus on four major themes -- 'Art and Culture for Nation Building and Societal Development', 'Environment Protection', 'Challenges of New Media' and 'Equality for All'.

"In the last three years, Udaan has turned into a cultural festival, which is a great platform to tap the young talent among the college youth, sensitize them about India's contemporary issues and make them aware about our cultural diversity.

"The festival in the last four years has progressed to competitions in 13 verticals and further jump in number of participants and audience firmly establishing itself as the biggest youth festival of Delhi NCR," Sumit Maluja, convenor of Udaan, said.  

The festival is expected to witness more than 3,500 students from around 50 colleges and universities, who will showcase their creative talents. The event will see participants competing against each other in categories like street play, 48-hour film making challenge, writing declamation, poetry recitation, music, dance, photography, painting, poster, cartoon and sculpture making.

Eminent personalities such as singers Padma Shri Malini Awasthi and Abhijeet Bhattacharya, actor-politician Manoj Tiwari among others are expected to be present at the event, the organisers said. The Udaan Utsav will come to an end on February 14.