Global Citizen: Jay Z & Coldplay to headline, event partner is Wizcraft, ticket eligibility + EVERYTHING you want to know

Yamini Singh Sep 12, 2016

Every successful event organizer knows the importance of ‘buzz’ to pull in a crowd. This ‘buzz’ needs to be positive, natural and consistent. It absolutely cannot be a push-message, target group should be able to relate with the communication, and above all, it should call for some action at some point. Most organizers create this buzz by planning mini events leading up to the main event while some do it by maintaining a presence across media channels. Others think out of the box and come up with an idea that gives it a unique indomitable identity. Enter Global Citizen.

What is Global Citizen Festival India?

The Global Citizen festival is an initiative of globalcitizen.org, a social action digital platform that has pledged to help end extreme poverty by 2030. It strives to do so by working on eight issues: Girls & Women; Food & Hunger; Education; Health; Water & Sanitation; Environment; Finance & Innovation; Citizenship. It works towards it by engaging a community and committing them to social change. The flagship festival happens in New York each year with the likes of Metallica, Usher, Rihanna confirmed to perform this year. With its debut in India it is being hosted for the first time outside of New York.

The event has won the much-needed support of political leaders in India with CM Devendra Fadnavis and MP Poonam Mahajan gracing the press launch in Mumbai earlier today. There was also a video message by Prime Minister Modi extending his wishes and support towards the initiative along with a video message from Chris Martin of Coldplay, who happens to be the curator of Global Citizen Festival. Bollywood bigwigs Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Aamir Khan participated enthusiastically at the event. Also present were Raj Nayak, CEO at Colors- Viacom18, Yuri Afanasiev, UNDP Resident Representative in India and Kweku Mandela, Founder of Africa Rising Foundation and grandson of Nelson Mandela, Hugh Evans, Global Citizen Founder and CEO, and Wizcraft Co-founders Sabbas Joseph, Andre Timmins and Viraf Sarkari.

When & Where?

Global Citizen Festival is slated for 19 November at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai. The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF) is responsible for bringing the event to India and has an agreement to host it each year for the next 15 years. Wizcraft is the event partner.

How can one attend?

One can sign up on the website and register as a Global Citizen. Once the account is set up certain tasks will need to be fulfilled to earn points, these include signing petitions, tweeting, taking quizzes or referring friends. Completion of each task will win you certain points. A total of 16 points are needed to enter the draw for free festival tickets. The draw will take place regularly and winners will be informed via email. Tasks will have to be specific to the Global Citizen India Festival and can be viewed here. A new set of tasks will be updated every two weeks.

One can also purchase tickets on BookMyShow.com, the official ticketing partner at the event. A spokesperson from BookMyShow commented, “We are elated and overwhelmed by the response received towards the online ticketing for the Global Citizen Festival India 2016 as we saw unprecedented demand and traffic on its platforms. Just as we had expected and foreseen, Phase 1 and Phase 2 tickets were sold out within a very short period of time, for both the Silver and Gold categories. Our queue management system efficiently managed, sustained and streamlined the demand and traffic of over 150,000 people, allowing thousands of lucky BookMyShow users to get their tickets to the most anticipated event this year."

Lineup

The lineup includes Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Dia Mirza, and Monali Thakur.

The festival concept is a natural fit for a country like India and the time is ripe. Think about it- we have a sizeable youth demographic and they are all on social media. Social challenges are many and the youth identifies with it. Moreover, taking action as suggested could pay off with a pretty sweet reward. Besides, which Indian doesn't love a bargain? We think Global Citizen may really be on to something here.

“Every child should aspire to be a leader” said tGELF Chairman Shiv Khemka at the launch today. And that's just the inspiration we need. Lets get to work citizens!