Here is an interesting idea for a rug made of pieces of felt. We stumbled upon Julika Welge's Growing Carpet at this year's Designersblock at the London Design Festival, where the bright colours and the rich texture first

Stylish and innovative lighting is everywhere at the Design Festival this year.

It's not a competition but... here are some of the loveliest things at the London Design Festival

The director of Celtic Connections questions the ethics of bringing in foreign artists to perform.

MegaFest Press Sizzle Video

XVIII Habanos Festival: Once Again Havana Hosts the Major Annual Event of the World's Finest Tobacco, the Habano

Felicitacion Chucho Valdes

XVIII Habanos Festival Opens with Cohiba

International Stars at the Closing of the XVIII Habanos Festival

PANDORA Jewelry showed festival goers how to style braided leather bracelets to get #FESTIVALready for Coachella

Felicitacion Chucho Valdes

XVIII Habanos Festival Opens with Cohiba

International Stars at the Closing of the XVIII Habanos Festival

PANDORA Jewelry showed festival goers how to style braided leather bracelets to get #FESTIVALready for Coachella

As thousands of festivals across the planet are cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mathieu Jaton from the Montreux Jazz Festival and British comedian Mark Watson, who’s organising a 24-hour online comedy festival, speak to Eve Jackson about the financial, cultural and societal implications of a summer without cultural gatherings.

Since time immemorial, a village in West Bengal has paid tribute to Shiva by self-inflicting pain. This year coronavirus put a stop to it.

Rum lovers swear by the old rum-and-coke recipe. But if you want the spirit in a new avatar, along with chakna made with rum, he­ad to this rum festival in Chembur.

ON March 10, 9 am to 11.59 pm
AT Le Cafe, 1st Road, Chembur East 
CALL 67099999

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"Empowerment is such a frequently used term. Sab bolte hai. But what it really implies is to just be yourself," Avantika Mathur asserts. The 30-year-old artist from Navi Mumbai has been making graffiti on the city's walls for years — and in some cases, the street lamp got there after the artwork did. "Art is a powerful medium, but street art is the best form to explain an ideology. It's an open gallery," she adds. And next week, Mathur along with six female artists will transform the neighbourhood of Marol into a gallery through Ladies First, India's first women-only street art festival.

Walls spanning over 10,000 sq ft will be painted on in Marol Village

The week-long event organised by Marol-based graffiti agency Wicked Broz in collaboration with the Military Road Residents Welfare Association, will see artists paint on multi-storied buildings and running walls spanning over 10,000 sq ft. Although talks about putting together a street art festival were in the works for a year, the idea of turning it into a women's-only event culminated from a Rajasthan trip in January that the organisers were part of. Rikis D Santander, a street artist from Chile, had mentioned that not only were India's gullies overcrowded, but very few women were part of that crowd.

Avantika Mathur

"Even globally there are very few female-centric events. Someone even asked us why women need a separate festival. I said that if I count the number of women who paint on the streets, that number will still be miniscule. Until we don't celebrate these artists, people won't be motivated to come out and paint," Zain Siddiqui of Wicked Broz explains, adding that they initially conceptualised a grander event with more artists. "But a lot of festivals happen as a one-time thing and then disappear. We didn't want that," he says, while proceeding to talk about the line-up that includes Abigail Aroha Jensen from New Zealand, Delhi-based Anpu Varkey and Ratna Singh, a Warli artist.

Zain Siddiqui

"The styles are diverse and we haven't only restricted ourselves to graffiti because we don't want to go around painting something ambiguous. It should mean something," Siddiqui tells us, while Mathur adds, "While Anpu paints large animals, I follow a bohemian surrealist style, which is all about finding yourself."

MC Manmeet Kaur

In addition to wall painting, Ladies First will also feature workshops, exhibitions of canvas work by participating artists, talks and film screenings. Hip-hop cyphers by female artistes such as Goa-based rapper MC Manmeet Kaur is also scheduled to take place. And on the last day, the public (including men) will be free to create artwork on a large wall. As Mathur says, education is key. "For people to appreciate street art, it is necessary that they understand it first. So, each piece we create will have a narrative."

ON March 25 to 31, 9 am to 6 pm
AT Bharat Van, Military Road, Marol Art Village, Andheri East.
CALL 8887795823
Email ladiesfirststreetart@gmail.com

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Bollywood's Dhak Dhak girl Madhuri Dixit Nene on Tuesday announced a two-day-long online live dance festival starting from April 29 to mark the World Dance Day.

The dancing diva took to Instagram to announce the virtual dance festival by her dance academy - 'Dance With Madhuri' - and also urged her fans and dance fanatics to register to take part in the festival.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

2 days of fun & learning with LIVE interactions, dance classes & more only at the first edition of #DWMDanceFestival. Get ready to #GrooveInYourRoom with @dancewithmadhuri! (Link in bio)

A post shared by Madhuri Dixit (@madhuridixitnene) onApr 28, 2020 at 7:56am PDT

"With the World Dance Day right around the corner, I am coming to groove in your room on the 29th and 30th of April with the first edition of the DWM dance festival," the 52-year-old actor said.

"We will be offering two days fun and learning with some of the best dancers, choreographers, and industry experts on our website and Instagram page. All this from the comfort of your home," she added.

The virtual dance festival will have some of the greatest dance maestros of India including senior choreographer Saroj Khan, film director Farah Khan and legendary Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj. The dance festival will stream live on all social media handles of the actor and her website 'Dance With Madhuri.'

World Dance Day is celebrated every year on April 29. As coronavirus induced lockdown remains in place, Dixit has organised the virtual dance festival to help people de-stress and develop dancing skills during the lockdown.

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In the light of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the 2020 Hot Docs Festival in Toronto, which is the world's largest documentary film festival was in jeopardy but the Film Festival, has decided to uphold & celebrate the spirit of movie making & film-makers, by showcasing a multi-platform 'festival-at-home' experience to its audience that kick-starts on May 28.

The only Indian film premiering at this prestigious international festival is Sona Mohapatra's documentary, Shut Up Sona. Directed by Deepti Gupta, the feature length film resonates with every woman's search for equal space in a culture ridden with millennia of misogyny. This is a film about music, art, social change, and a clashing of the ancient and the modern & this political story is told via the journey of Sona Mohapatra & her relentless fight for a voice. Her unapologetic personality has been rendered beautifully in the 85-minute film that takes the audience through the alleys of Vrindavan to the doorstep of a Dargah, rooting it in the diverse culture of the country, & questioning the patriarchy even prevalent in the Uber cool alleyways of Bollywood.

The film that premiered at MAMI in 2019 & won a critics guild award there, has gone on to make a big impact at the Rotterdam Festival, Goteborg Festival, even winning a special mention at Impact Docs Award. Speaking about it, Sona says, "With the world locked down & in anxious times, music, storytelling, cinema & art play an even more important role in helping us get back on our feet as a society."

She adds, "I am grateful that SHUT UP SONA will find an entirely new audience in another part of the world through the Hot Docs Festival. I couldn't have imagined that our film would be selected in these top festivals of the world when we were making it. That it is a universal story that is finding resonance across the globe validates my journey as an artist who has never felt restricted to being just a singer. I carry my country, it's art, it's present & its history within me. In telling my story, I hope to connect the disparate dots within my culture to build a narrative that portrays a more nuanced view of the hopes & aspirations of India."

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With France's ban on events with large gatherings until mid-July, a plan for a virtual version of the Cannes film market, the Marche du Film, might be going ahead in June. The Marche du Film is now setting up a full-on virtual market from June 22-28, confirmed Variety. According to Variety, Jerome Paillard, head of the Marche du Film, is to communicate details about the virtual market on Friday.

However, on April 8, The Cannes film festival director Thierry Fremaux has confirmed that the major event won't take the virtual route if it can't be hosted as a physical event. The film festival also works hand in hand with French distributors and exhibitors who are well represented on the board of the festival. Despite France's three-week lockdown, Fremaux maintains that the festival is carrying on with the selection of films while monitoring the evolution of the pandemic.

The festival recently stated that the key sales agents who represent the majority of titles in the competition have been submitting their films to Cannes' selection committee, and the dates for registration have been extended by a month and a half.

Also, the French culture ministry and the city's mayor are backing the Cannes, and they have announced the launch of a support cell for festivals scheduled for 2020.

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Nearly 125 sailors from 10 countries participated in the sailing and regatta events as part of the three-day vClusive Cup - India Yachting Festival, which concluded in Goa on Sunday. Organised by vClusive, Luxury Hues Group and Marine Solutions, the event was conducted under the auspices of the state Tourism Department, along with the Confederation of Indian Industries.

Representational picture

"The vClusive Cup - India Yachting Festival is a platform that focuses on lifestyle experience. Our success lies in the fact that the mega event connects brands and consumers on an engagement platform," Vinu Sundaresan, founder and CEO of vClusive, told reporters here.

"We are committed to shaping the development of the luxury and marine sector, hence, we believe in involving the industry towards the growth of the tourism and leisure industry at large."

The aim of the event, Sundaresan said, was to expand the horizons of marine and lifestyle tourism in the country, considering the fact that India has a coastline of 7,000 km which could be tapped.

Gautama Dutta, Executive Director, Marine Solutions, said: "Yachting is a leisure past time that is waiting to be developed into a highly leveraged lifestyle and leisure activity.

"We realise its potential and we are committed to developing it in India. We also understand that yachting is waiting to be experienced as a lifestyle that is satisfying, adventurous and thrilling."

There is a New India rising. Along with this rise, there is a growing demand for experiential leisure, he said.

"We believe yachting can fill this space promoting not only marine tourism but also building infrastructure and creating employment," Dutta added.

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Deepika Padukone spotted in Barbie Girl avatar at MAMI.

Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Wednesday, 20 November.

With summer events cancelled, the focus is on how to recoup funding and audiences

What's happening in the world of pop? FT critics Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton join Neville Hawcock in the studio to look forward to this summer's pop festivals - and to ask whether pop itself has become too backward-looking, as Simon Reynolds argues in his new book Retromania. Are we really addicted to the past? And are YouTube and now the Apple iCloud part of this trend? Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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The Edinburgh Festival – the world’s largest arts festival – is really a collection of different festivals that take place across the Scottish capital every year throughout the month of August. There is the stately International Festival and the so-called “Fringe” festival – a more unruly, sprawling affair with a reputation for experimental theatre and bawdy stand-up. There’s also an acclaimed Book Festival, as well as an Art Festival and even a Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, turns her attention to the Edinburgh’s theatrical offerings. She is joined in the studio by Ian Shuttleworth, FT theatre critic, and Matt Trueman, theatre blogger and critic for Time Out. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Visa problems and nervousness on the part of potential sponsors have made life hard for London’s festival of contemporary Arab culture. But as the Arab Spring gives way to harsher realities, such forums are needed more than ever, says the FT’s arts writer  

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The actress, 37, led the glamour in a stunning patterned sheer maxi dress with a black camisole underneath.

Sexual abuse documentaries about Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, as well as Netflix's film about the infamous Fyre Festival have all picked up 2019 Emmy nominations.

The veteran actress, who played the beloved Mary Poppins in 1964, added the statuette to her long list of honors at a glittering ceremony in the Italian lagoon-side resort on Monday.

She advocated for LGBTQ+ rights on the red carpet at the Emmys last week. And Laverne Cox came out to support another cause - ending extreme poverty - at the Global Citizen Festival

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Amir Khan has proved himself to be a wonderful fighter and donating his four-storey building in Bolton to be a temporary hospital shows what he is as a man.

In December, Iggy Azalea told fans that she and on-off boyfriend Playboi Carti were no longer dating. 

She advocated for LGBTQ+ rights on the red carpet at the Emmys last week. And Laverne Cox came out to support another cause - ending extreme poverty - at the Global Citizen Festival

The Jobcentre is not the most likely place to provide inspiration for a stand-up comic.But the gag, by Adam Rowe, won the annual award for funniest joke at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Lizzo, who performed to enormous praise at last week's MTV Video Music Awards, continued the fun onstage this weekend at the Made In America festival in Philadelphia.

The average Glastonbury festival-goer will walk nearly 30 miles and take 143 photos each, a survey has found. The music festival is held on Worthy Farm, Somerset over five days at the end of June.

England's Royal College of Nursing has warned people to avoid nitrous oxide, known as nos, at Glastonbury Festival this week because it can cause unconsciousness, choking and even death.

Bride and groom Jack Watney, 32, and Sarah Adey, 31, who live in Glastonbury, made their vows at the Croissant Neuf bandstand in front of 50 guests this morning.

She's known for her sartorial flair. And Lottie didn't disappoint at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Somerset on Sunday as she joined the likes of Brooklyn for the final day of the event.

The body of the man, in his 60s, who had been working at the Somerset festival all weekend as a security guard for G4S, was discovered at around 5pm on June 30.

Work is underway to clear up tonnes of rubbish left behind by 200,000 revellers at Glastonbury Festival in Somerset despite organisers making the environment the theme of this year's event.

The singer, 26, ensured she put on a show to remember as she performed on the Pyramid Stage during Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset on Sunday evening.

The award-winning musician, 51, put on a powerful performance as she took to the Pyramid Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at  at Worthy Farm in Somerset on Sunday evening.

Demand for Glastonbury, in Somerset, far outstripped supply, as more than two million people registered to try to attend. Some 135,000 tickets were bought within 34 minutes.

Qatar World Cup officials have asked Glastonbury Festival organisers to help them plan desert camp sites for fans ahead of the 2022 tournament, according to The Mirror.