Pune: The 38th edition of the Pune Festival, a 12-day celebration of art, culture, music, dance, literature, sports and tourism, will be inaugurated by Vice President of India CP Radhakrishnan on September 18.
The festival will be held from September 14 to 25 alongside the city’s Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav celebrations. The inauguration will take place at 4.30pm at Shree Ganesh Kala-Krida Rangmanch, Swargate.
Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, Higher and Technical Education Minister and Pune Festival Advisory Committee Chairman Chandrakant Patil, Pune Festival Patron and actor Hema Malini, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol and former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde are expected to attend the event.
The announcement was made by Pune Festival President Krishnakumar Goyal at a press conference on Friday. The festival logo was also unveiled during the event.
The 38th edition is being dedicated to the memory of its founder-president and former Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi. A nine-minute film highlighting his contribution to the festival will be screened during the inauguration.
The festival will feature several cultural programmes, including Sufi music, Kerala Mahotsav, Hindi Hasya Kavi Sammelan, Marathi Bana presented by Ashok Hande and MHJ Live (Hasya Jatra). Programmes will also be held at Balgandharva Rangmandir and Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha, along with exhibitions and sporting competitions.
The inaugural ceremony will feature a shehnai recital by Tukaram Daithankar, Ganesh Vandana, Maharashtra Sanman Geet and cultural presentations by students from Symbiosis International University. A special presentation, ‘Chak De India’, will celebrate the achievements of Indian women’s cricket, while ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje’ will mark filmmaker V Shantaram’s 125th birth anniversary.
The festival will also honour eminent personalities with the Pune Festival Awards. The Suresh Kalmadi Pune Festival Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to actor Mohan Joshi.
All Pune Festival programmes are free and open to the public.
Special Programmes
September 19 – Sufi Music
September 20 – Kerala Mahotsav
September 20 – Hindi Hasya Kavi Sammelan
September 21 – Marathi Bana
September 22 – MHJ Live (Hasya Jatra)
