10th Festival of Hope sees close to 100 supporters on JJ Valaya runway

The brainchild of Shalini Vig Wadhwa, a recipient of the 'Bharat Nirman Award' and the 'Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award' for working on cancer eradication, Festival of Hope is a registered NGO that celebrates the spirit and courage of cancer survivors. It works towards the cause using the medium of fashion, art and design.

The fundraiser brought together close to 300 people in support of the noble cause. The evening kicked off with a heartwarming performance by destitute children rescued by Spread a Smile India, an initiative of Mehrasons Jewellers Charitable Trust. Her Highness the Rajmata of Jaisalmer was the Chief Guest of the event who inaugurated the show. Others who were felicitated for their support included popular management and marketing consultant Suhel Seth and beauty esthetician Blossom Kochhar.

Shalini Arora Kochar unveiled the cover of her upcoming book ‘Women on top of their game’ along with editor of the book Kanika Sethi Babbar, Rasmee Pai the book designer, Dimple Ghosh and Parineeti Sethi. Fashion designer and activist Sanjana Jon did the honours along with the ladies.

The highlight of the evening and the biggest attraction for the full house on a Tuesday were the ‘Leaders of Hope’ who walked the runway adorned in beautiful JJ Valaya outfits. Close to a hundred people came together to walk the ramp and show their support towards the cause of Festival of Hope.

The evening concluded with a performance by the multitalented Vandana Vadhera and a gala dinner on the lush DLF greens.

Partners included The Crest, Glenlivet, Businessworld, Millionnaire Asia, Asia Spa, LaFiesta, Blossom Kochhar, Saks, Universal and Whatsup Gurgaon.