NMACC’s Bachpan children’s festival in Mumbai creates learning through art

Celebrating Colour with SH Raza by Know Your Art at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai.

The vast halls of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex have been ringing with peals of laughter and awestruck ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from children. It’s been a week since the multi-disciplinary children’s programming festival NMACC Bachpan kicked off. Spread over 11 days, the schedule consists of programmes in theatre, music, dance, art and craft and science among others for children between the ages of 2 and 14.

The diverse shows and activities at The Studio Theatre, The Cube and multiple venues across the Centre range from narration of timeless Indian fables, an interactive live science show, jamming sessions, a unique dance-meets-circus act, regional theatre, dance recitals, fun-filled art and tech workshops and a lot more.

A note from the NMACC’s Founder & Chairperson Nita Ambani spells out her vision for the festival: “Our festival's multi-format programming will create an environment where entertainment meets learning. It is our humble effort to make art and culture exciting, engaging, and an essential part of every child's life. I invite all children with their families to join us for this celebration of creativity and childhood at NMACC Bachpan,” she notes.

An NMACC representative elaborates, “NMACC Bachpan’s spectacular array of unique shows, immersive workshops and captivating experiences have been specially curated to ignite the hearts and minds of children of all ages with joy and inspiration.”

Circadian circus at NMACC

Over the course of these few days, children have got the opportunity to enjoy Circadian — an aerial circus and theatre dance act, the Hindi play Kabuliwala, a magic and illusion show by Rajesh Kumar, an interactive ballet performance, an art workshop titled Colours: Celebrating colours with SH Raza, among others. Sunday, the last day of the festival has more exciting experiences in store for the children — a classical dance performance by Sridevi Nrityalaya, a junk percussion workshop, a storytelling session of classic Indian tales, robotics workshops and the theatre musical Paw Patrol Live! Children can also experience the immersive and interactive art exhibition "Run As Slow As You Can" by Italian design studio TOILETPAPER, which is on till October 22.

Apart from the immersive programming, there is also an ongoing Swadesh exposition with Li’l Swadesh Kilkari edition — a dedicated arts and crafts zone which is meant to introduce young children to India’s traditional crafts such as crochet toys, puppet making and traditional games from varied parts of the country.

NMACC Bachpan is on till July 30 at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.