SUN SHINES ON AN INDIAN SUMMER TO ENTICE CROWD OF 8,000

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Deevani Jina, Mansi Vithlani and Prianka Lakhani

Sun shines on An Indian Summer to entice crowd of 8,000

ABOUT 8,000 people visited a cultural festival of dance, cooking, entertainment and everything Indian in the city centre.

An Indian Summer Festival was held in Leicester's Cultural Quarter at the weekend.

There were stalls selling everything from food to clothing and jewellery, as well as dancing and tuk-tuk rides.

Visitor Pushpa Solanki, 54, of Evington, Leicester, said: "I only got to see half of it, but it was fantastic. It was very well organised.

"I liked the involvement of everybody from different communities. The tuk-tuk brought back memories of when I go to India – it's a form of transport I enjoy."

Festival director Bipin Anand said: "It was an absolutely awesome weekend! People were commenting on what a fantastic vibe there was and many said that the festival was so different from anything they had ever experienced in Leicester.

"When we started An Indian Summer more than two years ago we had a vision in mind on what we wanted the festival to be like, this year is the closest we have come to achieving that vision.

"Next year's festival will be bigger, better and take us even closer to achieving our initial vision."

The estimated 8,000 festival visitors over the weekend was well up on last year's 3,500.

"AMAZING" FESTIVAL KICKS OFF

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Amazing" festival kicks off

A cultural festival of dance, cooking, entertainment and everything Indian has kicked-off.

This weekend, the city's Cultural Quarter is hosting the third annual Indian Summer. Festival director Bipin Anand promised the best yet.

He said: "It's going to be an amazing festival. Since we started in 2011, we have refined and perfected the festival and now have nine venues and will make good use of the Cultural Quarter.

"We've got some great guests, including the comic Paul Chowdhry, and people can learn how to make a great curry, have a go at different dances. There are more than 100 things for people to enjoy."

MY CRAZY WEEK: GET READY FOR AN INDIAN SUMMER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Bipin Anand

My crazy week: get ready for An Indian Summer

Monday: It begins on the back of four hours' sleep for the third day in a row – a whole lot of coffee and the excitement of the impending An Indian Summer (AIS) festival will keep me going, writes Bipin Anand.

After gulping my coffee, I head to the Curve theatre to run through the 20-odd AIS activities they will be hosting from June 27 to 30.

I grab a quick lunch on the mad dash back to the office where there are e-mails to be answered and social media to update. I attend a daily festival team meeting in the afternoon and then head back to the office and catch up with the leaflet and event guide distribution team.

Tuesday: Another early start. I do an interview on Tommy Sandhu's Breakfast Show on BBC Asian Network, meet with local car park owners to organise parking for An Indian Summer artists and continue inviting people from the UK/Europe to An Indian Summer, which is now just nine days away.

Soon it's 5pm and I realise I've forgotten to have lunch and grab a quick sandwich. I fire off a few e-mails, plough through paperwork and finally go home exhausted – at 10.30pm. I sign off after midnight, even with the buzz of the festival I just can't work anymore.

Wednesday: Arriving at the office I find three team members already there hard at work, everyone's so excited, it's a great atmosphere!The morning is spent setting up interviews with Pukaar News before a lunch meeting with AIS project and event managers Swati and Jiten.

The team is buzzing with the announcement that Leicester has made the final four of the City of Culture finalists! I pop over to the University of Leicester to run through details of their involvement in the AIS launch, meet with Phoenix's CEO to run through details for next year's AIS, and confirm transport for tabla artist Mayur Narvekar (arriving by flight from India) is all good for the following day.

Thursday: I'm jolted awake with a mixture of nerves and excitement at the realisation that there is now just one week to go. I have a meeting with AIS media team coordinator, Simon Aitchison, a health and safety walk through with my brother and event manager Jiten.

Lunch is delivered by my wonderful mum on her way to work. I edit video footage, help with leaflet distribution and attend a meeting with the manager of Chutney Ivy to discuss our launch – in aid of Unique Homes for Girls – next Wednesday. A break is much-needed so I switch off my phone and sneak off to catch a movie at Phoenix.

Friday: After a jog and meditation session, I am fired up and ready for the day ahead. I'm greeted by Gurdeep, AIS's creative director, and the decoration team – they will be putting into action the AIS decoration plan as of today. I attend the City of Culture team meeting as one of the executive board members of the bid team. A day of meetings, run-throughs with the team follow before I pack up slightly early, head home and put my feet up – an awesome feeling.

Bipin Anand is festival director of An Indian Summer, from June 27-30 in Leicester's Cultural Quarter