Arts & Culture Initiative of South Asia (ACISA) is cognizant of the fact that this isn’t an easy time for anyone in the creative industries. Lockdowns around the world have forced tours, performances, book launches, festivals and film productions to cancel. Entire creative industries have been put on pause during this global health crisis our thoughts go out to the victims of COVID-19 and we stand in solidarity with all those fighting the pandemic. Like all other areas of life, arts & cultural showcases have not been left untouched by this crisis. We would like to extend our sympathy to all artists, festival colleagues, curators and others who are facing grave difficulties during this time. ACISA believes showcase of arts, culture & heritage through festivals and expositions will not lose its power even in the face of the virus. Through resilience and innovation, we were determined to overcome the challenges presented by the global pandemic.

Together with our Canada wide and global partners, we were determined to deliver the high-quality festival experience that ACISA is known for in a unique hybrid format, in 2020 and if necessary in 2021 and beyond.

In 2020, Vibrant Brampton festival celebrated its 5th anniversary. The team at at the Arts & Culture Initiative of South Asia pivoted, launched its flagship festival Vibrant Brampton in 100% digital format, streamed over its Facebook page live garnering an organic engagement of over 200,000 with a half a million total reach across Canada, becoming Canada’s largest digital South Asian performing arts festival of 2020 in terms of organic reach and engagement. Our plan to celebrate this milestone might have changed its course but our promise to entertain Canadians through a unique online experience had come alive in a different format in 2020!

2021 will be the 6th anniversary year for Vibrant Brampton festival coming up in July 2021!

Coming back to our 2020 e-festival, starting as early as June 15, we presented a unique digital platform for emerging artists from all over Canada, called “Vibrant Star”. A hybrid of recorded and live performances by emerging artists continued till the 3rd week of July, with 100+ entries, 30+ artists performing and 8 budding artists being selected and groomed by a panel of judges and mentors.

in 2021 we will continue to bring the same world-class entertainment that Canadians can enjoy from the comfort of their own home with #VibrantBrampton festival. We’re featuring performances from international Bollywood artists, leading Pakistani artists, as well as musical and dance performances by leading Canadian artists for FREE! Be sure to check out the updates on http://www.vibrantbrampton.ca or tune in to the @vibrantbramptonfest Facebook page to stay tuned on updates and watch our festival come to life on screen in July 2021

This is not all, believing there is a big vacuum for artists to showcase “Classical” art forms in GTA, the team at ACISA also thought of launching a new segment called “Vibrant-Classical” in 2020. The unprecedented times which we all are going through did not deter the team to move ahead with its planning and launch. Vibrant Classical went live every Wednesday starting August 19 for three consecutive weeks until September 2, 2020, again in an online format.
We will continue to have both Vibrant Star and Vibrant Classical in a hybrid format in 2021.

Our other festivals like V.A.S.A- Arts Festival and META Arts Fest continued in virtual formats. We will continue to bring these two arts festival in virtual formats once again this year!

Please check out the details of all our projects below. These are being constantly updated as our team is working towards bringing a world class experience right at your home, yet again this year!