UK charity plans virtual festival to raise funds for rural India

For over 25 years, Madras Café has been a regular presence at the world-renowned WOMAD festival held in south-west England, which annually celebrates the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. But with the 2020 instalment cancelled amid the strict social distancing rules, Madras Café said it has decided to take things digital with a fundraising event and opportunity to raise awareness about AVI’s support to Indian partner organisations and solidarity with rural communities across India.

A UK-based charity will host its first-ever virtual fundraiser to raise money for India's rural communities in response to an annual art festival being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Action Village India (AVI) said the Madras Café Unlocked event, which runs from Friday till Sunday, will feature an all-digital range of content including exhibitions, talks, and yoga sessions.

At the digital Food for Thought stage, the charity will launch its 'Madras Café Cookbook' packed with recipes. "Action Village India (AVI) is a small, UK-based charity which partners with Indian organizations which work alongside women, men and children in some of the remotest parts of rural India so that they can access their rights and improve their livelihoods and resilience, without being held back by their gender, caste or religious beliefs," the charity said.

It supports initiatives focused on land and water rights, maternal and child health, girls' education, women's economic empowerment and disability rights and the support is founded on the principles of partnership and solidarity. For over 25 years, Madras Café has been a regular presence at the world-renowned WOMAD festival held in south-west England, which annually celebrates the world's many forms of music, arts, and dance.

But with the 2020 installment canceled amid the strict social distancing rules, Madras Café said it has decided to take things digital with a fundraising event and opportunity to raise awareness about AVI's support to Indian partner organizations and solidarity with rural communities across India. It will include a number of virtual stages including Madras Boombox, Food for Thought, Partnerships and Solidarity, Jaijagat Exhibition, a Poetree, Peoples' Stage, and Madras Café Family.

The Madras Boombox Stage will have live music contributions from artists from the Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust – Sarathy Korwar, Ansuman Biswas, and Rolf Killius, curator of the tribal Indian music collection for the British Library. The exhibition section also has a number of events from the end of July to September, besides a range of conversations with Indian partners.