The Hindu Group celebrated Chennai's 348th birthday with a month-long campaign titled "Made of Chennai". This initiative aimed to honour the city's rich history, food, music, arts, and culture. Organised in collaboration with the Greater Chennai Corporation, the campaign commenced on August 1 and concluded with a spectacular two-day Food and Music Festival on September 9th and 10th. “We wanted to highlight the culture and portray all that is central to the soul of Chennai so we decided to make it a month-long campaign to keep every Chennaiite busy,” said a marketing team member of The Hindu.
The campaign kicked off with engaging digital activities such as city trivia, photo contests and photo quizzes followed by an Archival Photo Exhibition set up with the help of the Urban Designer and General Secretary of the Madras Literary Society (MLS), Ms Thirupurasundari, as part of the campaign “Made of Chennai”, at The Hindu’s Head Office in Mount Road and several other metro stations, the Chennai Central station, and the Ripon Building which was open for visitors from August 14th to September 9th. The images that were chosen and curated out of 14 lakh pictures from The Hindu Archives resonated with the theme ‘Oor, Ula, Ulam’, that is, ‘city, entertainment and emotions’. The exhibition was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister M.K.Stalin at the Ripon Building.
Other events included a 5km and 10km marathon around Island Grounds, a Moonlight Cinema show at various popular beaches of Chennai such as Thiruvanmiyur and Elliot’s beach, screening films such as Chennai 600028, Madras and Madrasapattinam, and Music on Wheels, a music concert on a moving double decker bus featuring various artists such as Rajhesh Vaidhya, Sai Vignesh, Gana Prem, The Triad, and Pradeep Kumar, covering places such as Marina Mall, Ashok Pillar, Koyambedu Metro, etc.
The campaign reached its crescendo with the Food and Music festival at Island Grounds on September 9th and 10th from 4 to 11pm. Stalls by Chai Kings, Little Soi, Ricky’s Cookies, and Ciclo Cafe were crowded with customers as the air filled with melodies by independent singers from across Chennai. This was followed by a show-stopping performance by rapper Arivu and electrifying sets by popular indie bands, AGAM, and IndoSoul.
“It was well-organised and one of its kind. It left me very much in love with the city and with utmost respect for it and its cultural history,” said a Chennaiite. “I was very happy to be part of such amazing performances.”
AGAM concert at the Food and Music Festival
Food Stalls around Island Grounds
Moonlight Cinema at Besant Nagar
Archival photo exhibition at The Hindu office
Picture Credits: Sanchita Bhattacharjee