The 78th annual Isai Vizha of the Tamil Isai Sangam will begin on December 21, but COVID-19 has necessitated its conversion to a virtual event.
“In a way, it has offered us an opportunity to experiment with technology. The festival will be held for five days and we cannot have events throughout the day. Instead, we will webcast two concerts,” said Valli Arun, a trustee of the sangam, said.
No award ceremony
Sangam president and former Vice-Chancellor of Thanjavur Tamil University E. Sundaramurthy will inaugurate the festival. But there will be no award ceremony this year. The first day will feature a concert by Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram.
There will be no concerts on December 22. Every day the first concert will be between 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. and the second concert will be between 7 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. Tamil Isai Sangam has revamped its website to facilitate the webcasting of the music festival.
“We are the cultural partners of the Yaadhum Oore — Global Conclave-2020 and it is a learning experience. We are seeking to create a sabha experience through the webcast,” Ms. Arun said.
The concerts are being recorded and the website of the sangam already has the list of concerts and the artistes who are performing in the season. Tickets are available online. The season ticket is ₹1,000 and for the foreigner it will be $40.
“We are setting up a permanent canteen on the premises of Tamil Isai Sangam. Since our organisation is in the midst of a commercial hub, it will benefit the floating population,” she said. Ms. Arun, who is instrumental in setting up a permanent exhibition of musical instruments and instruments used by famous artistes, said in the future the recordings of the great musicians in the archives of the Sangam would be digitised.
