Shubhra Bhardwaj is the Founder and Creative Director of Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Shubhra has been instrumental in the production, direction and execution of several stage shows, festivals and open air stadium events in India and abroad. Her forte is large scale public events.
An entrepreneur, poet and an artistic director, Shubhra has over two decades of experience in the field of sports, performing arts and entertainment. She has a comprehensive and an impressive body of work that lists creative services in more than 50 countries.
She started Ferriswheel in 2009 with a dream of creating a specialized agency to design and execute large scale turnkey events using unique creative and technological innovation. Her in-depth understanding and experience of the diverse international and domestic performing arts markets and entertainment industries has established Ferriswheel as a dynamic, dependable and a competent brand in a short span of time. Worldfest 2014 is the brainchild of Shubhra Bhardwaj who spoke more about the event with Akshay Redij.
Tell us something about Ferriswheel and Worldfest 2014
Ferriswheel is an agency which specialises in large-scale public events. It’s been a pleasure to be working on games and festivals for the most part of my career. Worldfest is very, very special to us. It’s been a long and beautiful journey and a dream come true to see Worldfest happening at Lavasa. When I started Worldfest, the big vision was that I wanted it to be a place like a big playground for the world, where cultures meet, there’s music, dance; where there’s a celebration of life, humanity and arts. It’s all these things I have learnt through my travels all over the world in these 20 years that I have been around the globe.
Share about your experience of organising Worldfest.
When I saw the entertainment atmosphere in India, it was the right time for a project like Worldfest to roll out, because it is something which is relevant with the times. We started Worldfest with a two minutes silence for the Peshawar victims. It is important and symbolic as 10 countries are participating and all of us can see each other beyond race, colour, prejudice, wars and border. We all dance on the same stage and eat together. They want to travel more places and experience those culture, they want to dance with us. It’s been absolutely phenomenal outing and experience.
How do you attract the audience to this event?
When I started Ferriswheel as a company, my aim was to marry technology and art. We aim to bridge the gap between technology and performing arts, and keep it in a platform which is eclectic and engaging for the audience. You see a lot of successful EDM festivals happening now but everyone doesn’t want to eat and dance all day, they want to engage and be enlightened, experience something deeper and larger. And seeing how the Worldfest has unfolded in its first year at Lavasa, it’s been an absolute joy because people have come in large numbers.
How do audiences responds to such kind of events?
Lavasa is a mountain-city and it came alive with sounds of the world of so many people clapping, whistling and enjoying the performances and experiencing the food festival. Also the workshops, when people get engaged, when they can touch and feel, whatever their colour may be, they are people. When they wear the diverse costume and take pictures it just becomes a very beautiful outing. Ferriswheel has been a journey for me which is very personal and helped me stabilise and magnify my professional space. However, Worldfest is literally like a baby to Ferriswheel and we all feel a sense of attachment and belongingness to each other here.
