ShowFest was an experience beyond just entertainment

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Bollywood enthusiasts of North America now have a new reason to rejoice! ShowFest introduces an annual calendar of carefully curated live experiences and music festivals featuring some of the biggest names of Bollywood. But that is not all! At the onset of the big reveal, the evening began with the founders and conceptualizers, Karl Karla and Aanand Dawda introducing “ShowFest, a one-of-a-kind lifestyle membership” which brings South Asian Americans the future of Bollywood Live Experiences with a modern twist along with a multitude of ongoing benefits throughout the year.

ShowFest offers cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art venues, and the most exciting Live Bollywood experiences month after month. As a ShowFest member, you will enjoy 5 Indoor Live Experiences and 2 Outdoor Music Festivals featuring some of the most celebrated Bollywood artists. Additionally, various experiences such as Live Streaming Events, Movie Nights, Virtual Reality Talent Shows, over 20 Weekly Jackpots, 2 Mega Jackpots in each city & numerous discounts from a multitude of Loyalty Partners are also included with your membership.

Aanand Dawda (Founder & Managing Partner SHOWFEST ) , with Salim Merchant and Karl Kalra (Founder & Managing Partner SHOWFEST ) during the launch of SHOWFEST

ShowFest is a unique platform available both as a website and can be downloaded as a mobile application. (iOS & Android). ShowFest launches on 26th, September 2021 with a lineup of 5 Live Experiences like ‘Iconic – Timeless Moments of Bollywood’, ‘Addiction’, ‘Rewind’, ‘Arijit Singh Live’, and ‘U&We3 – Music.Moments.Memories’ & 2 Music Festivals including ‘Madness – A Fusion Music Fest, and ‘Sufitronix’.

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Ananya Birla during the launch of SHOWFEST

With Season 1 commencing in six major locations, ShowFest has selected some of the top venues of North America like the Now Arena in Chicago, Oakland Arena in San Jose, Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, Eagle Bank Arena in Washington DC, Cure Insurance Arena in New Jersey, and the GAS South Arena in Atlanta for the Indoor Live Experiences and venues like The Boomer Stadium in Chicago, The Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, Concord Pavilion in San Jose, Prince George’s Stadium in Washington DC, PNC Bank Art Center in New Jersey, and Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Atlanta for the Music Festivals.

Mohit Chauhan, KK, Shaan during the launch of SHOWFEST

Though Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon Chunky Pandey, Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Kriri Sanon, Nora Fatehi, Maniesh Paulthey were conspicuous by their absence at the grand party that followed the launch at Hotel Land’s End on Sunday though the invite mentioned that they would be present, it was a lovely party where cocktails consisting of the best of various top brands of scotch whisky flowed like water and reminded me of the good old days of partying before the arrival of the pandemic.

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Alka Yagnik Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan during the launch of SHOWFEST

Parul Chawla, the live wire PR of the event informed me that ShowFest Experiences will be headlined by some of the biggest names of Bollywood including Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Karisma Kapoor, Govinda, Raveena Tandon, Chunky Panday, Daler Mehndi, Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, Nora Fatehi, Pooja Hegde, Maniesh Paul, Arijit Singh, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Ananya Birla, Vidya Vox, B Praak, KK, Shaan, Salim-Sulaiman, Richa Sharma, Harshdeep Kaur, DJ Akbar Sami, Salman Ali, Raj Pandit etc, who will put an experience that will enthrall audiences with jaw-dropping performances, wow moments, larger than life production value and bone tickling humor. It promises to be a non-stop package of high-energy performances by all the stars. It is a global green initiative taking sustainability a notch higher, a unique synergy between Showfest and Bhamla Foundation.

Salman Ali, Harshdeep Kaur, Richa Sharma, Salim Sulaiman, DJ Akbar Sami, during the launch of SHOWFEST

Speaking about the Launch, Karl Kalra, Founder & Managing Partner, said, “Having curated innumerable shows with multiple artists over a decade, I noticed that the world was changing rapidly and therefore the North American Bollywood Live industry needed an upgrade and an organized structure of operations. We were aware of the challenges faced by the artists, the creators, the organizers, and most importantly, the audiences. With SHOWFEST, we have tried to amplify the quality of entertainment while addressing the challenges and providing solutions for a better customer experience. With ShowFest our vision is to create a loyalty-based community for Bollywood enthusiasts in North America.

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Aanand Dawda (Founder & Managing Partner SHOWFEST ) , with Pooja Hegde, and Karl Kalra (Founder & Managing Partner SHOWFEST ) during the launch of SHOWFEST

Sharing about ShowFest, Aanand Dawda, Founder & Managing Partner, said, “ I started my career with Bollywood Live events and have toured across 27 countries and over 60 cities. It’s fair to say that as creators we have been through every possible challenge and crisis a live entertainment event could present. Over the years we saw those challenges repeating themselves over and over again which made us wonder how to provide a solution that was not a temporary fix but a permanent transformation. We curated ShowFest with the aim to create a win-win ecosystem and provide everyone associated with a seamless wonderful experience. Our vision is to become a part of the lifestyle of our customers and provide them with an experience that transcends beyond entertainment.”

Sulaiman Merchant says “ShowFest has created a unique property for the world of entertainment to experience. Each live performance is definitely going to woo the audience’s heart”.