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Prices announced, tickets to 66th Sawai Mahostav to be available from December 4
Until last year, the festival was held at Deccan education society’s New English school Ramanbaug, Shaniwar peth. However due to the space being pre-booked by a second party, the organisers moved to a different venue
After three decades, the location of the prestigious 66th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahostav organised by Arya Sangeet Prasarak mandal, has changed and will be held at Maharashtriya mandal’s sports ground in Mukundnagar.
Until last year, the festival was held at Deccan education society’s New English school Ramanbaug, Shaniwar peth. However due to the space being pre-booked by a second party, the organisers moved to a different venue.
This year’s venue has three sports grounds of which the middle ground has been allocated for the music festival.“The ground can accommodate ten thousand people at a given time and can comfortably accommodate a huge crowd compared to the ground at Ramanbaug,” said Dhananjay Damle, general secretary, Maharashtriya Mandal.
Gokhale Mandavwale the organisation responsible for setting up the mandap are undertaking necessary precautions such as waterproofing in case of rain.Shirish Charwad, manager, Gokhale Mandavwale, said ,“Like every year, we have three sections, sofa, chair and the bharatiya baithak.The length and the width of the gallery where bharatiya baithak or seating is placed has been extended from 24 ft, to 32 ft. The size of the mandap has been increased from 260 ft to 300 ft.”
This year the festival will see a set up 30 food stalls. “The wrestling hall or arena will be turned into green rooms for artists, mixing room for the audio team, VIP lounge and other requirements,” added Charwad.
Sanitation facility of 20 mobile toilets will be set up for public use. The Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal is in talks with Pune mahanagar parivahan mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) for free buses to transport people to the venue. “We are apprehensive and waiting ticket sales to begin as proof that a change in venue will not hamper the footfall festival,” said Srinivas Joshi, executive president, Arya Sangeet Prasarak mandal. “The place is definitely bigger and despite the change in venue, the vibe and feel of the festival has not changed. We hope to see music lovers make their way for the five- day music festival.”
Shirish Bhodani, has been selling the tickets for the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mohostav for the past 20 years. “The tickets will be available for purchase from December 4. The event begins on December 12, and ends on December 16. Earlier I used to have people queuing up the night before to book the seats, let us see how this venue fares.”
The late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi started the festival in 1952, in the memory of his Guru, Sawai Gandharva. Pandit Joshi made sure the music in this festival was not bound by one particular gharana (genre), but instead a compilation of various genres from across the country.
“We have allotted them parking spaces which can accommodate 300 cars and 1,500 two wheelers which should take care of the parking problem,” Damle added. Besides the mandal trustees assure that residential zones in the area will not face any disturbance as the stage is built facing the opposite direction of the settlements and has the canal as the boundary.
Tickets will be available at following centres from 4 December, 9 am onwards
Behere Ambewale, Shanipar
Shirish Traders (Bodhani) near Kamala Nehru Park
Navdikar Musicals, opp Yashwantrao Chavan Theatre
Abhiruchi foods, Aranyeshwar, Sahakar Nagar
Ticket prices
Price of season ticket for chair - ₹ 4000 and ₹3000
Indian seating or Bharatiya bhaithak season ticket- ₹500
Daily ticket for Indian seating - ₹200
Daily ticket available for chair at- ₹ 800
Daily tickets can be purchased in advance and can be used for any day of the festival
Tickets will also be available online as well at http://sawaigandharvabhimsenmahotsav.com/