Dance, song, fashion, theater – Calcutta Youth Meet, the inter-college festival organized by Script Productions, had it all. The fifth edition of the annual festival attracted the participation of around 1,200 students from over 11 institutions in Bengal and beyond.

The preliminaries took place virtually in July and August. The finals were held on October 9 in Gyan Manch. Participants participated in 14 online events and six offline events in four categories — Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Literary Arts and Informal.

Script Productions is an independent group of students from schools and colleges across India who share a passion for media in general and movies in particular.

“Our goal is to provide a platform for students in different fields. This was the first time we had a mix of offline and online events. We did not expect such a crowd this year. We were pleasantly surprised to see how parents also encouraged their children to participate and perform, ”said Shinjan Mitra, founder of Script Productions, 24.

In addition to competing and cheering on their friends, young entrepreneurs set up booths in the Gyan Manch arena. From handmade jewelry and clothing to resin collectibles, the makeshift market was buzzing at all times.

“This is my first offline event after the pandemic. I respond mainly through Facebook and Instagram. We had to increase our inventory when we learned of this opportunity to set up a booth. I was both excited and nervous about it. seeing the answer, “said Shreya Samanta, 2021 graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Kolkata. Shreya runs fashion start-up Barbet with Debalina Banerjee, 2021 business graduate from Calcutta University, and Aishwarya Karar, second year finance student at the University of Calcutta.

Those Who Ruled Offline Events

Sadak, the Presidency University team, took first place in Act-a-Play, the street games competition.

Calcutta’r Guptodhon was a treasure hunt that left clues for the teams to follow. Excentric Explorers, a group of students, arrived first.

Oindrilla Kundu and Subhangi Sanyal, both first year postgraduate sociology students at Jadavpur University, danced until the first Terpsichorian torsion, the duet dance competition. “Getting on stage after almost two years was overwhelming for me. The atmosphere helped me calm down. We enjoyed every moment of the party. I couldn’t be happier coming back to offline festivals, ”Oindrilla said.

Students do their best to The devil wears Prada, the fashion show saw. A group of seven college students around Kolkata walked the ‘Textiles of India’ themed ramp.

Three Kolkata-based bands, not necessarily from a particular college, beat a beat in Battle of bands. Turn Back Cave won the contest by singing an original number.

Miss Calcutta was without a doubt the most anticipated competition of the festival. Subhangi Roy, an English graduate in 2021 from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, was crowned the winner.

What was buzzing online

Literary chefs have participated in events like Vadvivad (debate), Scribbles (writing competition), Knospe (corporate etiquette), Kavyantaar (poetry slam) and Prashnottari (quiz).

For performing arts enthusiasts, there were events like Rongin Falgun (2 minutes to fame), Beatraw (beatboxing) and Vyang Jung (rap battle).

Those with an artistic flair have entered competitions like Chhobiwala (photography), Drag Queen (makeup), Mukh Akriti (face painting), Monochrome Illustrations (art), Intricacy (mandala art) and Vigyapanam Nirman (poster making) ).