Hypnotism, cookery contest ‘rock’ Festember

Trichy: The rock music performance by Redbull Tourbus enthralled the audience on the second day of

Festember

at the National Institute of Technology on Saturday. Various cultural events were organised on day 2 of the festival.

An array of Tamil, Hindi and English cultural events were held including workshops and informal events which saw a number of people participate enthusiastically.

Under the Tamil cluster, Kolam was held at the indoor stadium. Prelims of Kalakkal Kalatta, Koothambalam and finals of Uyarthani Semmozhi, Kodambakkam and Sakalakala Vallavan were held. Under Telugu literary events, dumb charade preliminary and finals were conducted.

The hypnotism workshop by Dr Komala Vinayagam, director of Soul Free-Mind and Body Clinic, and Muthiah Ramanathan, director of Mind Dynamic Centre, taught the participants about the basics of hypnotism and the intricacies of the human mind.

For the first time at Festember, the Maggi Innovation Challenge was conducted in association with Nestle. There were plenty of participants, who were divided into approximately 20 teams. The competition was a battle between two batches of 10 teams each. Each team had to prepare the main course and a dessert in a culinary duel of wits. The dishes were finally judged by acclaimed chef Navapavithra Vikram of Gajapria Hotels.

Carnatic solo vocals under Shrutilaya was conducted by Amirtavarshini, the Carnatic music club. The event saw around 24 participants and was judged by acclaimed musician Brinda Sathyamurthy.

A-Capella, Festember’s most delightful and anticipated event was held from 9am to 3pm. Nearly 80 participants were judged by Pavan Kumar and Naveen Hiremath from the Nathaniel School of music.

Seven music bands took part in Gigahertz, the much-awaited rock music battle as Festember. The judges for the day were Rahul, Karthik and Ronit. The teams gave electrifying performances, each exploring and experimenting in various genres of rock.

Under the banner of Carpe Diem, Srinivas took part in a guest talk.

The Rock Nite was the perfect end for the fabulous day with a performance by Redbull Tourbus, the part-stage, part-bus music band. Held at the NSO ground, the Rock Nite saw an overjoyed crowd, charged up with music that overloaded all their senses.