New Story of Sound: TRF 2021

 

The 4th Edition of The Radio Festival (TRF) was held on February 13, 2021 at the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi. Organized in partnership with UNESCO and AIR, TRF is a first-of-its-kind festival that brings together all three tiers of radio broadcasting in India – public, private and community radio – along with podcasters and others invested in the audio space.

As in the past, the 4th edition’s theme ‘TRF 2021: A New Story’ was in consonance with that of World Radio Day: ‘New World, New Radio – Evolution, Innovation, Connection’.

In view of the pandemic, TRF reinvented itself to a hybrid affair. For everyone’s safety, the physical event was hosted for a curated audience on February 13, 2021 and some pre-recorded online sessions went live on the same day on the radio festival’s website.

The festivities kicked-off with a soulful performance by a group of Merasis, the traditional folk singers from Mewat, Haryana. This was followed by the Inaugural Session, during which TRF 2021 was officially launched by an esteemed panel of dignitaries, consisting of CEO, Prasar Bharati, Mr Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Ms Neerja Shekhar, Director-UNESCO, New Delhi Mr Eric Falt, Director of CEMCA Prof Madhu Parhar and the Founder-Director of The Radio Festival Ms Archana Kapoor.

Mr Vempati declared the festival open with his opening remarks on the need for digitization of data & information, the role of radios in dissemination of correct & useful knowledge and shared the possibilities of imparting skills through community radio, during a global health crisis. The handbook on “Best Practices of Community Radio and Sustainable Development Goals” prepared by CEMCA, with support from UNESCO, New Delhi, was also launched on this occasion.

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Pictures from the event