I have attended the KGA Carnival on earlier occasions and I have been very impressed with the Event. This time, however, things took a different turn when one pleasant morning, I received a call from the KGA President Adele Britto enlisting my help! She wanted me to be Ground In charge & went on to explain my role. Having seen the effort already being put in by my wife Samantha who had converted the living room into a costume creation space & being privy to the humongous planning conversations on the phone, I felt privileged to be part of such fantastic effort & dedication.

I am aware that the planning for this large Event had started sometime in July/Aug 2019! From scouting around & within Bangalore to find a suitable venue, to getting the whole show on the road & for the thunderous success it turned out to be, I would like to doff my hat to the President, Secretary, Treasurer & the entire Committee! In Adele’s word, “ I was determined to find the most appropriate venue within the city cost wise & distance wise” ! How true those words turned out to be!!

The Jayamahal Palace Hotel was a beautiful venue – lovely lawns & a Convention Hall bang in the middle of the ground. It did come with a few negatives, however. The sound restrictions, the time restrictions & its close proximity to the Raj Bhavan. This Committee faced the challenges bravely and we Volunteers (8 of us ) were happy to offer them the support they needed to pull it off!

‘D” day dawned bright & clear. The Light guys, the furniture guys, the sound guys, the Sponsor guys were all at the ground to set it up with the harried Managing Committee members & yours truly had to sell tickets which were moving like ‘hot cakes’. I understand that with ticket sales crossing a whopping 2000, the Committee took a decision to close Gate Sales which I think was a wise decision.

The décor was fantastic. The Floats simply out of this World with the theme” We are the World “! Ive read the script which the Emcee Jonathan was using as the narration & the eye for detail was simply amazing. The crowd was mesmerized! As a guest remarked , “ It could match with any Carnival across the world”!

The opening Float with the dance by the Leading Lady & the Maidens was absolutely fantastic & it set the mood for the entire Event. The problems of the World were on display – Pollution, War, Poverty , Education were the main Floats with choreographed dances by the Vices & Virtues. The Managing Committee & the Creative Team of Ladies made up the last Float representing the different countries of the world & gave out the message that there is still hope for the world, if the world unites as one. King Momo looked every inch a King & his declaration saw the crowd on their feet cheering along his every word!

The variety of food & the reasonable rates came in for a lot of praise. The same was said of the flowing beverage – varieties of Beer, Soft drinks & Single malt Whiskies kept every one in high spirits! The non food Stalls including the Art class for the kids was really innovative and a first for any Carnival.

A26 was as usual mind blowing with their music & as far as I could see an overflowing dance floor was not any kind of deterrent, because people were dancing in any space they could find! After the Band wound up at 11.30pm, the party moved indoors with Deejay Neil keeping the crowd mostly consisting of youngsters partying upto nearly 12.30pm until Adele came in with the Hotel Managers to ask them to wind up.

Back to my role of Ground In Charge – I had a lot of watching , moving, requesting to do, to keep the huge crowd in control but it was worth the effort when at the end of the event we realized that there was no untoward incident ; neither with the crowd nor with the police. Everything went off smoothly!

I imagine, all those involved in the organization of the Festa do Carnaval 2020 could rest on their laurels for a fantastic job.

My congratulations!!