Synchronicity (Rock Festival, IIT Kanpur)

Synchronicity[2] is the flagship event of Antaragni, the cultural festival of IIT Kanpur, which is a non-profit organisation run completely by students of IIT Kanpur.

It began as a simple rock band competition in 1988, has now grown into one of the largest college rock music festival of India, which sees participation from over 400 bands every year. Synchronicity went international in 2007 with performance of Poets of the Fall, the band which was voted the best Finnish act of 2006 by MTV.

The competition has been a launch-pad for some of India's top rock acts. Parikrama started their musical journey in the early 1990s by winning Synchronicity and went on to perform the world over, culminating in a critically acclaimed performance at the Download Festival. Synchronicity'10 witnessed the critically acclaimed bands Weaponshop and Them Clones on the final day.

Poets of the Fall performing in Synchronicity 2007

The event starts with zonal preliminary rounds held in 9 major cities, where about 10 bands compete and out of them 1 or 2 ultimate performances get selected. These semi-finalists get to participate in the second round, held at IIT Kanpur during Antaragni. After National eliminations top 3 bands make it to the Grand Finale. The grand finale is judged by the members of the featured International bands and The event closes with special performance by guest bands.

• Stage 1 : ROADTRIP (Zonal Eliminations)

The country is divided into nine zones Delhi, Mumbai,[3] Kolkata,[4] Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh and over 100 band register from each zone. From the registered bands 12 bands are selected from each zone to perform at the Roadtrip shows in the city which three bands are selected for the second stage at IIT Kanpur.

• Stage 2 : National Eliminations

The shortlisted bands battle it out for two days at the national elimination, held at IIT Kanpur during Antaragni. In the end, only four bands are selected for the final night, where they perform as opening act to the international headlining acts.

• Stage 3 : The Final Night

In the final night the four bands which pass through the national elimination get a chance to open for the international headliner of Synchronicity. At the final stage of Synchronicity they compete for the title of Synchronicity winner and a prize money of worth five Lacs. The competition is headlined and judged by international artists.

The twenty-fourth edition of the festival took place in 2012. Over 10,000 fans attended the festival over 3 days, with Black Queen Speaks and Solstice Coil headlining the event. The Family Cheese won the festival.

• Antaragni

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