Festember is the annual cultural fest of NIT Trichy. What began as a humble, zero-budget intra-college fest in 1975 soon blossomed into a 4-day long cultural extravaganza, drawing in participants from all over the country and living up to its name as a Fest to remember. Today, it is a cultural festival renowned nationwide for its four days of absolute bliss.
Apart from the four days during September when the year of tireless efforts come to fruition, Festember hosts many events and activities during the course of the year to keep the fest alive in our minds by inviting several eminent personalities to perform or speak, or by hosting competitions for the general public.
Awarded ‘Best Cultural Event of the Year' in 2005 by the Tamil Nadu government, Festember boasts an annual footfall of 15000 students across 500 colleges in India.
Every edition of Festember is based on a theme, which gets captured and portrayed effectively through the fest's ambience installations.
What makes Festember a massive cultural phenomenon is its proshows, events, workshops and guest lectures. On each night of the fest, celebrity artists and bands enthrall the audience with their spectacular performances. Notable mentions include Jonita Gandhi, DJ Papa Balooshy, Ilayaraja, Sunidhi chauhan, Amit trivedi and Andre, Benny Dayal, Rajhesh Vaidhya, Vijay Yesudas, and bands like Masala Coffee and Mangas the Mango men.
Colleges visiting Festember compete for the coveted Festember Rolling Trophy, which is awarded to the college performing the best in a myriad of events across 11 clusters, including the likes of Music, Fashion, Arts, Gaming, Lits (English, Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu), Dramatics, Shrutilaya, and Photography.
Each year, Festember hosts an array of guest lectures featuring luminaries from numerous fields. Under Carpe Diem, Vox Populi, Talks by The Firelight, and Ad Meliora (kickstarted during Festember 2020), various stalwarts like Dhruv Vikram, Adah Sharma, Alex Rodrigo (of Money Heist fame), Meena Kandasamy, Prashanth Bhushan, Aruna Sairam, Tegan Taylor (the make-up artist of none other than Avatar), Anu Hasan and Jaaved Jaaferi have graced Festember as guest speakers.
Festember also hosts workshops each year that offer a sneak peek into various forms of art and skills, such as acrylic painting, photography, soap carving, charcoal drawing and Ballroom waltz.
Festember is famous for hosting several theme-park activities and games, including Zorb Football, Paintball, Wipeout and an Escape room.
Encourage budding filmmakers and serve as a platform to showcase their talent; Festember also organises the Rolling Reels International Film Festival to promote budding filmmakers and serve as a platform to showcase their talent. It features a rigorous competition involving multiple rounds, with the entries judged by a panel consisting of eminent personalities like Kamal Hassan from the film industry.
Happiness multiplies only when shared with others. What makes a fest successful is not just its stature and scale but the positive impact it creates among people from various walks of life. On that note, Festember’s Social Responsibility team is engaged throughout the year in several endeavours that benefit the local community, creating and spreading awareness on various societal issues. Notable events include Uplift, an event conducted by Festember's Social Responsibility team that aims at encouraging primary school kids to keep learning and stay curious. They also invited Dr Kalaimagal Ravi to deliver a guest lecture in light of the international year of millets. The Social Responsibility team has also hosted Earth Hour, Paperback (an effort to minimise paper waste), Cancer Awareness Month and The Golden Dustbin (a donation-distribution drive) in its long and dedicated tenure.
For further details, please visit the official Festember website: www.festember.com
Or contact:
Cyril John S
Chairperson
Contact No: +91 78451 79404
Sudharshan U
Overall Coordinator
Contact No: +91 93844 70644
Vaikundaraman
Treasurer
Contact No: +91 98034 43797
