School cultural fest Immaculata resumes after a year-long break

Nearly 50 committee members, 22 participating schools and six months of preparation – all for a two-day cultural festival. Such is the scale of enthusiasm of the annual interschool festival Immaculata conducted by Mazagaon-based St Mary's School ICSE in Mumbai. The fest got its name from the school motto, relating to the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. Intermittent yet creative posts of the countdown to the fest, which is set to take place on June 30 and July 1, are up on the Immaculata Facebook and Instagram page, with the number of days appearing after a flash of fire.

Events scheduled over the course of two days resemble planning at a collegiate level. "We have a musical event called 'Cleff Hangers', which is a fusion of genres, where teams improvise as they go. Participating schools get to pick two different genres that they must fuse, using an unconventional object [like a bucket] as an instrument in their performance," explains Rian Jain (batch of 2017-18), co-chairperson and head of performing arts. Speaking of fusion, Jain says, the contingents may have to put up a Bhangra performance with a Reggae twist.

The students, who call themselves Marians, have unconventional games like zorb football planned. "Participants will be put into half a zorb ball (a big, transparent, rubber ball) down to their waist and will then have to play football," says Jain, adding that all events and games are first tried and tested by them. Building a supercar, creating your own superhero and a campus-wide detective search are other events that will feature in the fest.

Behind the scenes, the Marians start work six months in advance in December, by first building an organising committee (OC) that has coveted spots of chairperson, co-chairpersons, section heads and assistant heads. "Being part of the OC is a matter of pride for the Marians as you are picked out of nine and ten class students," says ex-student and head of finance Moshin Baldiwala. His complaints are akin to that of a marketing team in a corporate set-up – struggling to reel in sponsors and/or celebrities to attend the event.

The theme this year – Legacy Reborn – is represented with the logo of a phoenix rising from flames as a sign of rebirth. The reason for choosing this theme for the sixth edition of the fest is because it resumes after a year-long break, explains Hriday Jhaveri, chairperson of Immaculata. Jhaveri, batch of 2013-14, who has been affiliated with the fest since its inception in 2012 was asked to take up the responsibility this year by Ms Joan Dias, the teacher and co-ordinator for Immaculata. However, the final say is given to Dr Fr Francis Swamy, principal of St Mary's School.

What you can expect on D-Day, aside from the colourful, extravagant shows, is a host of volunteers wearing T-shirts designed by the creative team, who will be helping the participating contingents from both SSC and ICSE schools. And as age is no bar for sophistication, the OC will be present in a formal dress code of suits and blazers.

Not A Child’s Play

The fest features several amusing events such as playing zorb football, fusing musical genres and a campus-wide detective search 

Other activities on the itinerary for the festival include building a supercar and creating one’s own superhero