The 41st Annual Festival of India – July 13-14, 2013
Arts & Culture Showcase
Centre Island, Toronto

The 41st Annual Festival of India, which will be celebrated on Centre Island from July 13-14, 2013, once again proudly presents its unique Arts & Culture Showcase, a beautiful and soul-riveting programme of powerful dance, drama and devotional music from the ancient subcontinent. Rain-or-shine, in a tented, outdoor venue and amidst a giant summer festival, this show grants audiences a free ticket to observe the spiritual allure and the creative elegance of dramas, melodies, and choreography that were once commonplace in ancient, spiritual India.

With a line-up of internationally acclaimed artists, the programme promises a unique and unforgettable collection of sublime sounds and enchanting performances. Some of this year’s performers include :

• Toronto Tabla Ensemble 
• Joanna Das & Chhandam Dance Company
• Enakshi Das Sinha
• Menaka Thakkar Dance Company
• Chitraleka Odissi Dance Creations
• Gaura-Shakti

Experience Kirtan

The 41st Annual Festival of India’s Arts & Culture extravaganza will be showcasing traditional and modern forms of a devotional music style known as kirtan. In recent years, word about this form of music has been spreading and developing into its own subculture and modern indie music scene. At the Festival of India, audiences will be able to experience kirtan performances by a number of classically-trained local and international kirtan musicians and bands. Traditional South Asian instruments and mantras together with contemporary sounds and rhythms will burst forth into ecstatic, new musical experiences that must be heard to be believed!

About Festival of India

The Festival of India also features a vibrant parade down Yonge Street on Saturday, July 13th, with celebrations continuing on Toronto’s beautiful Centre Island for the remainder of the weekend. Aside from the Arts & Culture Showcase, festival-goers will find a massive, colourful and free festival, featuring a South Asian bazaar, Vedic exhibits, a children’s area, face-painting, and our world-famous FREE vegetarian feast! On Sunday, July 14th, the Festival will also present the Sixth Annual Yoga Meltdown – a “festival within a festival” – focusing on presenting the spiritual depth of yoga and much more!

Website: www.festivalofindia.ca
Telephone: 1-888-535-FEST (3378)
Email: info@festivalofindia.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/festivalofindia.toronto
Twitter: http://twitter.com/festivalofindia
#festivalofindia

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS! OAC STRATEGIC PLANNING SURVEY

Click here to hear an audio version of this message

The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has embarked on a process to develop a new strategic plan and we are currently in the information gathering stage. As a first step in our consultations with the arts community, we invite you to share your thoughts and experience with us by completing a short survey. The survey asks for your perspectives on the opportunities and challenges currently facing Ontario artists and arts organizations. We will use the survey responses to inform the development of our new strategic plan over the next few months – with the launch of the new plan next spring.

Strategic plans guide organizations in fulfilling their mandates by creating goals, and crafting strategies to achieve these goals. At OAC, we are committed to including a broad range of perspectives in our strategic planning process so that we can be confident that our plan best meets the needs of the Ontario arts community and reflects our current realities. While we will never be all things to all people, we do want to do our best to reflect Ontario and Ontarians, so it’s important that we hear from you as we begin this planning journey.

We recognize that this is a busy time of year with many of you looking forward to the summer season. We hope that you will take a few moments to participate in this survey. The link is below.

Please help us reach beyond the pool of Ontario artists and arts organizations already familiar with OAC. To do this, please pass this email to one to three people who are artists or who work with arts organizations who you think would provide interesting, informed perspectives, but may not yet have had contact with OAC.

Deadline to complete the survey: midnight Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, July 7, 2013.

Complete the survey by clicking here.

The survey is also available in alternative formats such as large print, an MS Word document, or via an oral submission. If you require an alternative format, please contact Sheena Lessard at slessard@arts.on.ca or 416-961-1660 ext. 6297 (toll-free 1-800-387-0058 ext. 6297) by Wednesday, July 3, 2013.

The ASL version of this announcement is available on the OAC website:  http://www.arts.on.ca/Page5102.aspx