Meghalaya: Asia's largest spoken festival debuts at Shillong's Wards Lake

Asia’s largest spoken festival was held for the first time at Wards Lake in Shillong, Meghalaya, offering an opportunity for poets, writers, and storytellers to elaborate on their work and exchange ideas with other artists. The event also provided a platform for Meghalaya's budding talent.

The venue came alive with raw energy, unfiltered stories, and voices at the festival, supported by the Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya.

Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh, along with Tourism Director Cyril VD Diengdoh attended the event.
 
Speaking at the event, Paul Lyngdoh expressed his gratitude to the local population for their support and the collaboration of groups and enthusiasts like Kommune and the artists, further stating, "It is indeed a moment of joy and ecstasy for us in the department to see that experential tourism and the arts and culture are getting a fresh lease of life in Meghalaya". 

Lyngdoh stated that the indigenous tribes of Meghalaya have a long history of oral tradition; the stories, myths and legends are an old part of the history of the state even before introduction to the written word. "A platform such as this allows young poets, writers,  storytellers to elaborate and exchange with other artists of the community, and for Meghalaya's budding artists to be provided with such a platform is a true tangible achievement," he said.

Furthermore, he expressed positivity that the youth when given the opportunity to interact in such platforms will be another instance of commune and connect ensuring that the state's strengths, including arts, culture, literature and music are provided with the best platform in the world.

Meanwhile, Cyril Diengdoh remarked that Shillong is the first city to have edition of Spoken Fest outside of Mumbai. He added that the platform gives the opportunity to local authors and other local talents to rub shoulders with the best in the country. 

He also observed that Spoken Fest gives a chance to the best artistes in the world and in a way promoting Meghalaya tourism which will  reach a wider audience.

The day kicked off at the reverie stage, with performances by singer-songwriter Clayton Hogermeer, and Shillong’s very own singer cum poets, Vancouver Shullai and Marbamonlang Rani took centre stage with their poems exploring themes of identity, home and family. Actress and social influencer, Kareema Barry, mesmerised the crowd with her mastery in storytelling on food, family, childhood, and her native city.

Later, the fest highlighted a showcase by Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project (MGMP), a state government-aided platform, featuring pop-soul artist Elena Sohktung. 

Poets Anees Ailynti Noronha, Priya Malik and Tanmay Maheshwari delivered their performances with a poise Storyteller’s Laksh Maheshwari and Madhu Raghvendra, ended the first session of the day.

As the day broke, the festival hip-hop/R&B artist, Meba Ofilia and and hip-hop duo Khasi Bloodz took centre stage and gave her electrifying  performance, in addition to the music, the poetry lineup featured Merenla Imsong, Lalnunsanga Ralte, and Madhu Raghvendra. 

The storytellers curated for the Shillong edition included actors such as Amol Parashar and Merenla Imsong, plus poet Trinetra Haldar. 

As the curtains drew to a close, the festival culminated with one to one conversation between Bollywood actresses, Patralekha and Tillotama Shome, who engrossed themselves with topics like female friendships, family, outsiders in Mumbai creating their own space, unconventional choices as an artist. Moreover, When Chai Met Toast, an indie-folk band, took center stage for a closing set that was nothing short of legendary.