No change in delegate turnout after moving it to Mumbai: Goafest organisers

With less than a week to go for the festival, Manifest catches up with the chairperson and co-chair of the organising committee.

While many eyebrows were raised when the organising committee of Goafest moved the festival from Goa to Mumbai, delegate attendance has not been affected according to Jaideep Gandhi, chairperson, Goafest Organising Committee, and Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Network India, and co-chair, Goafest 2024.

In a conversation with Manifest, Gandhi said, "We are seeing more interest from clients in attending the festival because it's easy to reach. The total delegate interest is pretty much the same as last year. We've crossed the four-digit mark in terms of delegates."

Due to the festival coinciding with the elections, many believed that the organisers wouldn't be able to attract sponsors. That's also not been an issue.

The duo revealed that Snapchat, Hindustan Times, Sony, Star, and Tata Motors have joined Goafest as a 'support system'.

Client participation

With the festival being held in Mumbai, those with a busy schedule and based in the city could be given a chance to attend the festival.

"While we are going back to Goa next year for sure, more clients are participating in the content (as speakers) this year because it's in Mumbai," said Joshi.

"The fact is that it's not about Goa or Mumbai, it's about clients seeing this as a relevant and meaningful platform. That will continue to happen next year as well when the efforts are to get them on board in Goa. This is an event for the industry as a whole and not just for the advertising and media community. Last year, we had other associations of the industry also participate - IAA, ISA and the ASCI among others," he added.

Goafest has partnered with D&AD to create a platform to help 'upgrade the skills' of the industry.

Gandhi said, "They are going to conduct four specific masterclasses on subjects. They'll be proper workshops which will help the youth. These will be held on day two and day three."

Speaker mix

Joshi informed that this year's festival will see around 45 speakers spread across 20 sessions.

Out of these, 10-12 will be celebrities and the others will be industry leads.

"It's a good mix of entertainment, education and skill development. We found a mini Goa in Powai. Instead of the beach, we'll have the lake," he said.

Gandhi added, "The scale and the experience of Goa won't be missed."

Among the speakers listed are Harit Nagpal, Sanjeev Mehta, Sukhvinder Singh, and Neelesh Mishra.

According to sources, the cast of 12th Fail and Sourav Ganguly are also going to be among the speakers. The list is to be revealed later today (23 May).

Growth of the festival

While the festival has many naysayers, Gandhi stated that the fact is that it's growing year-on-year in stature.

Paying tribute to those who have helped the festival grow, he said, "Every year it is evolving and the growth has come from somewhere. In the last 16 years, people like Sundar Swamy, Arvind Sharma, Colvyn Harris, Ambi Parameswaran, Nagesh Alai, Nakul Chopra, Ashish Bhasin, Sam Balsara and Shashi Sinha, who are legends in our field, have helped push Goafest to this level. Now, it's our responsibility to make it larger and reach their vision when they started Goafest."

"Goafest took a great turn with every passing leader, who made it bigger and better. Nakul made it grander and more inclusive. Ambi got the right content in place. So Goafest has been navigated by such stalwarts. We have to give justice to their vision. Sam wanted us to take it to the stadium in Goa and not just limit it to a banquet," he added.

The full agenda for the festival is available here.