Vistosa was a festival/flea organised by me and other 7 girls of my school. It was a city-wide festival held on 6th and 7th of March(2021). More than a source of entertainment, the primary purpose of this event, was to raise money to donate to the ‘Disable Welfare Trust of India’ founded by Kanubhai. It was a collective effort from the 8 of us, to make this event attractive for people to want to join, so that our vision turns into a success. From planning the event, finding entrepreneurs, companies, brands etc. that would buy stalls at the flea, to finding a band to create a vibe, making photo booths, decorations, coordinating with professionals to then actually managing the event, it was a lengthy but giving process.
LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
Considering that Vistosa was a city-wide event, it being unsuccessful was completely out of question, too many people were involved for mishaps to take place, and that put a lot of pressure on us. Also this was something new to us, as we might have planned small-scaled events for certain school activities before, but then we had constant support from our teachers, and minor details of the events weren’t much of a concern to us, however at Vistosa, each arrangement, from selecting a venue, planning the placements of stalls, decorations, stage etc. on that venue, taking government authorization, given that COVID still is a part of our lives, marketing the event and taking regular updates from the people planning to issue a stall at our event, everything lied on us. This responsibility often made it difficult to manage our time, as along with planning the event, we also had to focus on our upcoming exams.* However, I’m grateful for this being a group effort, since our responsibilities were divided, and I could trust my peers to hold up their end of the distributed duties. Having said this, while working in group took off a certain chunk of pressure from each one of us, it wasn’t as smooth as it seems, as we were nearing the event, everyone was hyper, and didn’t pay enough heed to check up on each other, and that ignorance led to mishaps like, not having enough resources for decorations, or not reaching a consensus on a few decisions, however, we overcame that as well, after extra meetings to sort out minute details before actually working on it, the added communication helped us all be on the same page and avoid a jumble of clashing ideas.
LO 3:Demonstrate how to plan and initiate a CAS experience.
This entire experience was based on planning and organising myself, my work and of course the event. I would say that I’m a rather organised person but when it comes to deadlines sometimes I get overwhelmed or hyper, however managing a big-scale event like Vistosa made me more confident when it comes to organising or planning.*What I learned about myself through this was that, rather doing something alone, I thrive more when I can share my ideas with others and when I know that someone has my back as I do theirs, it helps me remain more calm, despite the timely quarrels. This experience along with confidence, also gifted me with a greater sense of being responsible, as my responsibilities here had a big impact on a greater number of people, thus commitment to it was necessary. And lastly, I learnt that planning and organising events is something that I enjoy immensely, so if I ever get a similar chance again, I would definitely take it up, knowing that I’m more capable now.
LO 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
Lack of commitment in the given scenario would lead to major humiliation, so commitment and perseverance in terms of checking on other peers, stall-builders, sales people to be present at the flea, the band that was supposed to perform at the festival etc. on timely intervals and making sure the event was going on the right track. There were personal tasks that I had to complete timely as well, such as making graphics/logos for Vistosa’s instagram page, making the photobooths for the event with a bunch of my peers etc. all of this had to be done without procrastination with complete determination in order to be ready on 6th and 7th, and actually be able to raise money for the funds.
LO 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
*Covered in LO2 and LO3
LO 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
Like mentioned above, the primary purpose of this event was to raise and donate money for the support of education for deaf and dum students. Which addresses the SDG ‘quality education’. To look forward to a better future economically, socially and progressively, education is something we need to make sure everyone receives, irrespective of their gender, abilities or disabilities, and since deaf and dum students are often a target of negligence when it comes to something like education because, a chunk of our society believes, they won’t be able to make anything out of that education, providing money for their learning, as small or big that amount may be, felt satisfying. No matter who, everyone should have access to basic necessities like quality education opportunities.
LO 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
Like I said, COVID is still a part of our lives, as it was on the days we held the event, gathering a bunch of people in one venue, for long amounts of time, was something dicey, and not exactly the safest decision. It raised ethical concerns, as the gathering would expose a lot of people to each other and the highly possible risk of catching the virus, however the government had given us a limit, to which we adhered, and when on the second day we felt as though the crowds were rapidly increasing, we put the entries on hold for more than an hour, and only let people in, when a certain chunk of crowd left the festival. I believe that, putting aside the obvious risk of meeting people, we handled this issue quite effectively, and made sure social distancing, wearing of masks, and the crowd limit, was maintained throughout the two days of our event.
To conclude, this event without a doubt was one of the most exhilarating, giving, creatively charged and fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had, from the day we started planning to the actual event itself, there were so many things that I learned and so many beautiful memories that I created. And mostly, knowing that I could help someone who needed my help through this, filled me with a great sense of fulfillment and pride.