Want to listen to Nigerian percussion (heavy drums), watch the traditional Sri Lankan peacock/peahen dance, or relax listening to the mellifluous Slovenian music? Take a bus/train ticket to Lavasa (hill station), where Worldfest 2014 organised by Ferriswheel will be held from December 17 to 21.
More than 200 performers from around 10 countries will be presenting various forms of art, dance, music, cuisine, etc at the fest on these days. And it's free. At the fest, different countries will also conduct workshops on various art forms. No entry fee here too.
Performers from most of the countries are already in the city. Olaitan Otulana is the director Nigerian troupe who will showcase the traditional Lagos culture.
"We will be performing the Eleja dance of the Lagos fisher folk; and Eyo dance of the Eyo god. It will be the Yoruba tradition (of these dance forms) that we present. Yoruba is the predominant tribe in Lagos. African culture is drum-heavy and the beats are fast and energetic. 'Iyailu' is the mother drum, something typical to us," said Otulana, who visited India in 1998 as well. She said the weather in Mumbai was similar to that of Lagos.
The Polish troupe will present their traditional dance forms like Trojak, Obrek and Beskid. Kinga Wlostek, 24, belongs to Poland's Silesia region. They are in Mumbai for the first time and weather here has been a shocking experience for them. "It's minus 5 degrees in Poland right now. The food here is very different. We are here to showcase our culture and folklore, and understand Indian culture," said Kinga.
From closer home, there are the Sri Lankans. They had performed at Worldfest 2012 too. Gamini Basnayake heads the delegation. Sri Lankan troupe will perform the Uddekki dance and the fusion Ramanaru dance based on peacocks and peahens.
"Our food and costumes are very similar to that of Indians. Although there may be a lot of issues between our two countries, there are no differences when it comes to art and culture. Hindi movies are very popular in Sri Lanka. All the girls in the group will die for Shahrukh Khan. Similarly, cricket too binds us," said Basnayake.
The Slovenians looked terrified by the Mumbai traffic and wondered how the city managed without accidents. "In our country people follow traffic rules strictly. We have not seen so many people before. Our country is small and thinly populated. And we feel time moves slowly here," said Sabina Drevensek, the one who translated what the Slovenians were telling us.
"We will be performing our folk music, which is relaxed and rhythmic, something that Indians may not be familiar with. It's calmer and more fluid than other music genres. We will play the contrabass, clarinet, violin, accordion, mouth accordion, tambourines, etc," she said.
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 "Various international artists that will be performing at the WorldFest 2014")
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