Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is annual festival, nine days long, commencing always on the first Saturday of February and closing is always on the second Sunday in February, in the Kala Ghoda area of South Mumbai, India.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

From its inception in 1999, the Festival has grown in stature and popularity, attracting visitors and participants from other parts of the country, and the world. The Festival is organised by the Kala Ghoda Association (a non-profit organisation that states its objectives as "physically upgrading the Kala Ghoda sub-precinct and making it the Art District of Mumbai") and curated by teams handling each of the 12 sections of the festival.

Overview

The festival sections are visual arts, dance, music, theatre, cinema, literature including children's literature as a sub section, workshops, heritage walks, urban design and architecture (2014), food, a dedicated section for children, and a vibrant street section including stalls selling eco friendly, hand made arts and crafts wares. Entry to all events is free to all (only restricted by the size of the venues) and costs are met through corporate sponsorship. Venues include The auditorium at the

Horniman Circle

as well.

The success of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival has, arguably, encouraged the setting up of several other arts and cultural festivals at that time of the year, when the weather in Mumbai is cool and the sun sets early. These include the Mumbai Festival, the Celebrate Bandra Festival, and in 2007, the Kitab Festival.^[6] The festival has also featured noticeable music acts like Spencer Maybe, Indus Creed, Benny Dayal and Ustad Zakir Hussain.