Bangalore, Dec 8 (IANS) Around 1,000 Indian and international artists from diverse genres like art, craft, dance, music, theatre and films will celebrate the spirit of this city with the 10-day long ‘Bengaluru Habba’ from Friday.
The cultural carnival, in its seventh year, is being organised by the Artistes’ Foundation for the Arts (AFFA), a city-based voluntary organisation working for the promotion of arts, in association with Bharti Airtel Ltd and Kingfisher.

The festival will be hosted at various venues, including Chitrakala Parishat, Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, UB City and Palace Grounds.

“The Habba is a reflection of Bangalore’s passion towards diverse and dynamic forms of arts, globally. Bangalore has always been culturally vibrant and alive,” said Nandini Alva, trustee of AFFA.

“We want the people of Bangalore to come to the Habba and take home some great memories they can cherish for years. The artists participating this year are true legends, and I feel very proud to be able to watch them perform and mesmerise the audience,” said Padmini Ravi, another trustee of AFFA.

Some of the events lined up at the festival include Indian art trail, jazz evenings, an arts and crafts mela, creative writing workshops, children’s film festival and regional theatre festival.

At the Indian art trail, art connoisseurs can delight in the works of Indian artists like Rabindranath Tagore, M.F. Hussain and Arpana Caur.

The jazz evenings will feature world renowned Dana Gillespie and The London Blues Band, Gerard Machado Network, Maarten Visser Trio, and Global Unity.

At the crafts mela, traditional artists from 20 states will showcase their handloom and handicrafts items on all the days of the festival.

The creative writing workshop is a platform for children in the age group of 13-14 to learn English creative writing skills from Singaporean writers Ng Yi Sheng, Felix Cheong and Adeline Foo and Mumbai-based author Kiran Khalap.

“A children’s film festival will screen some of the finest films for young audiences, which include ‘Vaadya’, ‘Innondu Mukha’, ‘Boy And The Crocodile’ and ‘Summer With The Ghost’ to name a few,” informed Nandini.

“Gaining strength and popularity each year, the festival has the potential to become a festival of international stature by 2010. The festival is a unique example of a public- private partnership in the sphere of culture where the marketing and execution is done professionally by AFFA and financial backing comes from the corporate sector,” said Padmini.