Waves, BITS Goa’s annual cultural festival, is a floating ocean of talent, art, skill, originality, brilliant lights, booming songs, and endless fun. Waves has been a massive success in past years and is ranked among India’s top 10 cultural fests, with over 60,000 plus visitors and a turnover of INR 90 lakhs, with over 180 universities participating throughout India. It attracts students from throughout the nation. Various fantastic competitions can be witnessed throughout Waves. Heated debates, passionate poetry slams, and various other informal gatherings and a wide range of events.
Waves has become India’s fastest-growing cultural festival because of exciting performers, intriguing activities, a boisterous crowd, and a festive Goan vibe.
Waves BITS Pilani Goa –2021 Theme
This year’s theme- ‘ Ile de fantaisie’!
Dance among the butterflies, listen to the birds chirping or take a joyous ride on the unicorn, to the magical kingdom amidst the clouds. Injecting with enthusiasm and letting higher spirits go even higher as we ride on top of the Ferris wheel. Unmask the suspense, chasing us in the carnival. An affair of thrill and excitement awaits.
History of WAVES:-
In recent years, Waves has hosted performances by celebrities such as Farhan Akhtar, Amit Trivedi, Neeti Mohan, Vishal–Shekhar, Priyanka Chopra, Kalki Koechlin, Kailash Kher, Karsh Kale, and musical artists such as Nucleya, Ritviz, Quintino, Marnik, and Lost Stories. Well-known comedy troupes such as All India Bakchod, TVF, Being Indian, and others have performed at Waves.
Sunburn and the Femina Miss India eliminations were also held at WAVES BITS Pilani Goa. It has grown into one of India’s most prestigious collegiate cultural festivals. The origins of Waves can be traced back to a 2005 intra-college festival.
Waves’ celebrity and glitz drew contestants from all around India each year. In addition, the festival’s attendance and quantity of events rose at an exponential rate. Waves 2014 featured an international act, The WorldFest, a Coke Studio performance for the Indie Nite, and the Searock event, which has grown into one of India’s largest semi-professional rock band hunt competitions. Waves 2016– “Tides of Time” was the subject for BITS Pilani, Goa’s 10-year anniversary of Waves.
Waves 2019
Tagline: En Voyage on Uncharted Ventures!
The 2019 edition of Waves is tipped to be bigger and better than all of its previous editions. The theme “En Voyage on Uncharted Ventures” promises to take the performers on an exhilarating and electrifying journey for the three days. The fest is to be held from the 1-3rd November, Though eliminations of different events such as SeaRock, Inverse, and SMTF(Show Me The Funny) have already taken place in various cities across the country.
Waves BITS Pilani, Goa, 2018
Tagline: Embrace The Shadows!
Waves 2018 featured events organized by the various clubs of Music, Dance, Literary, Quiz, Drama, Moot Court, and the Fine Arts. ‘Major 4 ’ attractions of Waves, Natyanjali, Fashion Parade, and Mr. And Ms. Waves and SeaRock attracted a massive crowd of cheering students. Specials, another segment, consisted of unique events like Treasure Hunt, Photography Competitions, Film making, Last Entrepreneur standing, etc.
This edition of Waves attracted a footfall of over 50,000 with students from 150+ colleges taking part in the events. It was also the first edition of Waves in which a Youtube Conclave was held, and many known Youtube celebrities like Meghna Kaur and youtube channel Filter Copy shared a stage and engaged in a fun round of games.
The Pro Nites of Waves 2018 witnessed performances from Farhan Akhtar in the Bollywood Night and Quintino, one of the top 25 DJs in the world performed in the EDM night. The Indie Night saw a performance from music band Anand Bhaskar Collective.
Waves BITS Pilani Goa, 2017
Tagline: A Tale In Two Shades!
Waves 2017 introduced a completely new and unique concept of celebrating the abstract. It aimed at making the audience forget reality for those three days and take them onto another plane of euphoria. Apart from the biggies, even the smaller events received an overwhelming response.
Photography events like ‘Montage,’ ‘Mezzo-tint,’ ‘Time Lapse’ and ‘Reverse flash,’ ‘Waves Open Quiz,’’ Waves Debate Championship,’ ‘Rubik’s Cube Challenge,’’ Wallstreet Fete’ also saw phenomenal enthusiasm and success. Other events like Searock, Show Me The Funny also showed rapid growth from the last edition of Waves. For the Bollywood night, Vishal-Shekhar gave an unforgettable performance and ended the festival on a high note.
Waves BITS Pilani Goa, 2016
Tagline: Tides of Time.
Waves 2016 was filled with a multitude of events and dazzling nights featuring top artists of the country. It began with a grand inauguration in the auditorium. An art performance by Kala and a humorous sketch performed by the Mime Club stunned everyone present. Events such as the game of Scrolls, Drinkathon, Jukebox, and Sizzle saw amazing participation and enthusiasm.
Searock, India’s largest semi-professional rock band competition exhilarated the audience throughout the night with performances ranging from the band “Three Hours Peace” to “Wild Amigos.” DJ Spin-off was a single event held in association with the PartyMap DJ Academy. Dozens of people flocked to the outdoor stage to groove to the electronic beats.
Comedy Night witnessed rib-tickling performances by top comedians Kenny Sebastian and Zakir Khan. Waves 2k16’s nights concluded with thrilling performances by bands Aswekeepsearching and The F16s as part of the RedBullTourBus, breath-taking performances by singer-composer Amit Trivedi who was accompanied by the phenomenal Neeti Mohan. The DJ Night, which was a blast, with Nucleya blowing the minds of the people present.
ProNites at Waves BITS Pilani Goa
Waves BITS Pilani Goa rapidly achieved popularity far and wide due to the euphoria and ecstasy it creates in its Professional Nights or Pro-Nites as they are called. Popular national, as well as international artists, perform every year at Pro Nites. Waves has previously featured the likes of Vishal–Shekhar, Priyanka Chopra, Karsh Kale, Blackstratblues, Kailash Kher, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Strings, Indian Ocean, Parikrama (band), Thermal and a Quarter, Pakistani Rock act Raeth (band), Carnatic Rock band Agam (band), Dead Letter Circus, Candice Redding, DJ NYK, DJ Suketu etc.
The Pro-Nites of Waves are divided into three nights, to cater to varied tastes of the audience:
EDM Nite
The EDM Nite held on the last night during which an Electronic musician performs. Previous editions of Waves BITS Pilani Goa have seen gigs by eminent electronic music artists like Nucleya, Quintino, Marnik, Diego Miranda, Ritviz, etc. This is the most significant musical act of the whole fest and draws the most massive crowd.
Waves EDM Nite also hosted an official Pre-Sunburn event. There are usually two to three acts on EDM night, with the opening acts performed by upcoming artists, followed by the leading artist.
Indie Nite
Indie Nite is always a crowd puller; with performances of star music artists. In the past, Indie Nite has seen performances by Dead Letter Circus, Blackstratblues, Anand Bhaskar Collective, The Yellow Diary, The Indian Ocean, and Sifar, among others.
Bollywood Nite
Bollywood Nite is a major crowd gatherer. It has witnessed performances by renowned Bollywood such as Vishal–Shekhar, Kailash Kher, Salim Sulaiman, and Farhan Akhtar, among a lot of others
EVENTS:-
DANCE
- Sizzle: Sizzle video. It’s not just the sound bacon makes on the frying pan, but one of the most ubiquitous forms of video content out there. What is also a brief reel for actors, directors, and camera ops to show their work in a snippy form, is also an industry standard in event video production. So from here on out, when referring to a sizzle, we’ll be talking about event sizzles. An event sizzle is basically a highlight reel. Whether a panel discussion, a corporate conference, a sporting event, or any event under the sun, a sizzle can be made from it. So what’s in a sizzle reel? Your standard sizzle video will be filled with b-roll, interviews, and sound bites from the event itself, all rolled up in a tight, vibrant piece that makes your event’s energy pop off the screen.</li
- Natyanjali: One of the most popular events, Natyanjali is a team dance competition that has colleges from all across the country bringing their best. Teams send in their submissions and the top 10 entries will be showcased live and the winners announced live by our judging panel.
MUSIC
- Jukebox(HINDI) & Jukebox(ENGLISH): Music is one of the purest form of art, with unmatched forms of expressions. Jukebox was one of the most successful events in the online league edition of Waves’20 and we can’t wait to see what participants have in the bag for us this year! This solo singing competition gives you a chance to showcase the musician inside you. So pick up the mic and make magic out of it.
- Reverb: The first of its kind in India, Reverb is a remix competition. With the everising popularity of Electronic Music and song remixing, Participants this year will be given one track to remix. The participant with the most captivating and catchy remix will grab the title of Waves’21 Producer, and will have access to some amazing prizes and opportunities. We can’t wait to see how this event turns out.
- Rapsody: As the name suggests, Rapsody is BITS Goa’s very own underground Rap Battle. One of our newer events, participants from all over the country battle it out through numerous rounds in the full Hip Hop Hooligans style for the ultimate title of Waves’ very own Gullyboy. The showdown will keep your eyes and ears glued, and will have your heartbeats rising.
FASHION & DESIGN
- Mix-N-Match: Waves’21 brings you a unique fashion competition where participants use their best sense of style to combine various trends of fashion.
- Glam Up!: Our fashionistas here use their skills to blend and dive into the world of makeup and come up with a look that does the most justice to our theme. Winners not only get exciting prizes but also get to show off looks on their social media handles. After all, there’s nothing like too much highlighter!
DRAMA
- Hear Me Out: Dramatics is one of the leading arts forms in the country. Building on last year’s success, Waves’21 brings to you a one of its kind monologue competition determined to bring out the actor in you. The event witnesses participation from around the country, and is judged by the best in the acting industry.
- Radio Play: Giving a twist to the drama events, Waves’21 brings to you RadioPlay, for the first time ever! With no visual component, RadioPlay will depend on the dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listeners imagine the character and story. So put up on your thinking caps because it’s your time to bring your A-game to a purely acoustic performance.
FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY
- Oh Snap!: Oh Snap is a photography competition. This competition brings. This competition takes place online and all the submissions follow a certain theme. Oh Snap is great opportunity for a photographer to show off what the world looks like through their eyes and what an idea means to them.
- SHO(R)T: Short is a team short film competition. This is a great platform for the budding filmmakers and film enthusiasts to hone their skills and show off their work. The winning film has the amazing opportunity to get published online.
FINE ARTS
Picturesque Palette
Put out your artistic hats and get ready to paint in our theme Painting Competition. Submissions will be taken online based on a wide variety of themes and winners have exciting prizes lined up for them!
SPECIALS
- Show Me The Funny: Show Me The Funny is a stand-up comedy event where aspiring stand-up comedians from all over the country come together for an epic stand-up comedy clash.This time SMTF will be entirely held online.The top contestants will then be promoted to a final live round with an audience from all over India and in front of special judges!
- Mr & Miss Waves: One of the Big 4 events Mr & Ms Waves has been one of the premier attractions at Waves every year.Participants will be judged on their wits,quick thinking and their respective performing arts they possess an aptitude in.
- InVerse: The national poetry slam for Waves’21 is your ticket into the world of the spoken word. Time to break out the old meter,dust off that rhythm and put those poetic devices to work to deliver a performance of a lifetime.If spoken word is your passion,this is the place to be.
- Irshaad: “Irshaad” is a Hindu-Urdu performance poetry competition which aims at bringing different perspectives of things, happenings and feelings in the world, at one platform of blissfull poetry.