Four-month long Oz fest to begin from next month

The four month-long 'Oz fest' will begin from October 16 here in which Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is likely to attend.

"During the next four months, Oz Fest will showcase the creativity, dynamism and diversity of Australia through major events across India focusing on Australian music, art, food, film, literature, dance, sport, ideas and much more," Peter Verghese, Australian High Commissioner to India, said while making the announcement of the fest.

"India and Australia has strategic government to government relationship and now we want to build a strong connecting thread between the people of two countries," he said.

Stressing that the festival would bring an all-round understanding about Australia, Verghese said, "We are conducting this festival at this time because we are thinking about the future of our relationship. We want to convey among Indians about what Australia is as a country, as a community."

The festival would commence with an opening night concert at Purana Quila featuring aboriginal singer and songwriter Gurrumul Yunupingu, didegeridoo virtuoso Mark Atkins and sitarist Anoushka Shankar against the backdrop of a 3D projection.

The other programmes of the festival include Melbourne International Comedy festival roadshow featuring five comedians and a RAW comedy competition to the best new Indian talent in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

The festival would also showcase film 'Fearless Nadia'. Another Australian film 'Save your legs' featuring Indian origin Australian actress Pallavi Sharda would be screened.

Apart from art and culture, the festival would also focus on business and industry networking events at four cities, with a focus on innovation, science and technology, mining and resources and food and beverages and sports specially cricket, Verghese said.

The festival would have four ambassadors which include Indian origin Australian actress Pallavi Sharda, Australian cricketer Brett Lee and two judges of Master Chef Australia fame Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.