MUMBAI: The Radio Festival (TRF), which is being hosted by UNESCO in partnership with Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation, SMART, a not-for-profit on Wednesday, 13 February 2019 aims to celebrate sound by breaking the silos and bringing together all the three tiers of broadcasting : Public, Private and Community, as well as podcasters and others in the audio space on one platform . 

Conceived and launched by SMART and Radio Mewat founder Archana Kapoor, the Radio Festival is celebrated on UNESCO’s World Radio Day i.e. on 13 February every year. This year the festival embraces the theme of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - Leaving No One Behind.

The thematic sessions will have panellists from all three tiers of broadcasting, podcasters and other value added audio service providers around the titular session as well as around other sessions.

The opening session will centre stage the struggles and inspiring stories faced by the marginalised and the voiceless in accessing media, as well as the challenges and successes of radio in reaching out to them .The session is being moderated by author and communication expert Sharif Ranganekar.

As a radio enthusiast puts it, “At the time when many internet and online platforms have opened up information flow to anyone with a broadband and a smartphone, it is great to have a medium, which is inclusive, and needs no sophistication to communicate through voice. Radio plays with the audio and sound to create a world of fun, music but also serious discussion and information sharing.”

Today Radio is inclusive vibrant and conversations are no longer one way. The RJ can connect with you even when driving. And this is the dream world that the Radio Festival wishes to take you to.

At the festival, the radio plus sessions on expanding choices and the story telling are expected to weave a magic spell by show casing the new and the popular creating perhaps cross learnings and synergies across the three tiers of broadcasting. Industry leaders and heads of organisations will also participate in a specially curated panel, which will look at how the radio is creating waves in an already crowded media space. We hope to hear from Industry lead players in the radio space on how they will stay relevant in an ever shrill and competitive space and their strategy to remain on top of the game in the ever dynamic digital space.

SMART, the not- for- profit will also be releasing a Toolkit designed especially for Community Radio on SDGS. Supported by the UN agencies the toolkit aims to demystify and simplify the 17 SDGs into simple messages and activities so that community engagement for better implementation of UN SDGs can be achieved.

The Toolkit will be released at the inaugural of The Radio festival by Secretary Information and Broadcasting, Mr Amit Khare and will be subsequently, tested in a two-day workshop that will be attended by more than 40 CR Stations.

Outside the auditorium, the Radio Festival will create an equally vibrant space with Exhibitions and stalls on history of Broadcasting, a model radio station, live artists and a Hot Spot- with changing activity every half hour, where innovative ideas and products that improve knowledge and practice of broadcasting will be showcased. Interspersed with serious conversations and the Marketplace where buzz will be created on innovative products and programmes.

To enliven the sessions and increase the experience there will be live performances by Sumeet Samos an Indian music artist and rapper who talks about issues of Caste oppression, manual scavenging and other issues of marginalised in a storytelling through music while Dastangoi on the indomitable Manto will be brought by Meera Rizvi and Shadab Hussain. A comedy skit in Awadhi will capture the plurality and myriad tongues of radio broadcasting. A fun interactive Session patterned after the BBC award winning series Just a Minute. JAM will challenge the most popular RJs from the private FM channels to speak extempore for a minute without repetition.