For and by the community: Bandra’s St Stephen’s gears up for Festival at the Steps’21

Ever since they were renovated three years ago, the zig-zagging St Stephen's Steps at Bandra's Mount Mary road have emerged as a prominent public space which frequently comes alive with community gatherings and fun-filled activities. Built on a once-neglected and poorly-maintained slope, the steps were envisioned by Bombay Greenway, a not-for-profit urban design and research platform by Abraham John Architects.

Soon enough in 2019, the project that set out to create a safe and accessible urban space inspired a 'Festival at the Steps', where art, craft, music and other activities took place over five weekends on the stairway. The active members of the festival team are Tina Nandi and Anca Abraham of Love Your Parks Mumbai, Zahabia Contractor and Shruti D'Souza of Little Big City and Dhanashree Diwane from Haribhau Vishwanath Musical Industries who co-curates the music and arts programmes. After a long pause caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, the festival is making a comeback to help locals recover from the pandemic blues and heal together as a community.

There is an added incentive to bringing back the festival this year - its venue was recently declared the Place Design Winner in the Great Places Award 2021, an international competition organised by the Environmental Design Research Association and Project for Public Spaces, for its contribution to urban design and planning.

St Stephen's Steps, Bandra. Image credit: Tina Nandi

From Christmas festivities, music performances and art workshops to open mics, games and food, there's a lot to look forward to in the event, slated to begin on December 18 and go on until January 22, 2022. Music and dance workshops by established city-based artists and performing arts institutes are among the other highlights of this year's edition.

Mid-day Online spoke to Dhanashree Diwane, co-organiser of Festival at the Steps, who talks about the importance of community spaces in a crowded city like Mumbai and their plans for the month-long celebration.

Please give a little background on what inspired the founder members to start ‘Festival at the Steps'. What was the idea or concept of planning something so unique?

What is now an award-winning public space, used to once be a derelict, neglected, narrow staircase, poorly maintained and little known. The steps were envisaged by Abraham John Architects and Bombay Greenway to become more than simply a transit-space connecting the lower and upper parts of Mount Mary. It was therefore transformed into an accessible, barrier-free, multi-use public space with support from Asif Zakaria, Municipal Councillor, MCGM and the local Advanced Locality Management (ALMs).

The next step was to activate this space and encourage people to use it for gathering, performances and community events. And the best way to do this was through a festival celebrating art, culture and community. Thus was born our first edition of Festival at the Steps in December 2019- January 2020.

How, according to you, are community events like ‘Festival at the Steps' significant enough at a time when we are still recovering from the social and mental impact of the pandemic?

Community events in general play an important role in helping people connect socially and emotionally and they provide a great platform for the exchange of skills, knowledge and ideas.

Given the challenging times we have witnessed in the last year due to the pandemic, it has become even more necessary for people in urban areas to have access to safe open spaces where they can reconnect with the community that they have been deprived of.

It is a well-known fact that the pandemic has affected our socio-emotional wellbeing and it is time that people are allowed to enjoy outdoor spaces again with appropriate safety measures in place. Living with this pandemic has become the new normal, and now more than ever, we need to come together as a community to help support each other and celebrate our talents, passions and culture.

Among the crucial factors for our health and wellbeing is having a sense of community. So are spending time outdoors and making music together. So three times lucky, if you're planning to attend #FestivalatTheSteps.

Image credit: Tina Nandi

What changes are you observing while organising the fest this year in terms of protocol, logistics and reception?

Last year, while we were still reeling under the effects of strict lockdowns, we embraced the new online platform of live streaming on @thestepsbandra. Nevertheless, we were happy to be able to invite artists to The Steps to come and perform live again and we streamed it online as well. The IGTV is available on our Instagram page/YouTube for viewing. Being an open air space, all social distancing and safety measures were adhered to. It was a new learning experience for all of us, a logistical nightmare - but we got tremendous support from all our artists and well-wishers.

Following these difficult years of the pandemic, we gather again this year as a community to heal and celebrate an exciting achievement for Mumbai's public spaces- Great Places Award, an international, prestigious award that goes to show little miracles are possible in the most unexpected, underused locations, and people really can turn spaces into places.

After a 2-year hiatus, we all appreciate being able to come together again in a safe outdoor environment, where we can connect with the people around us, through music and the arts, and celebrate life.

Since it's a public space and a public event, how do you consciously ensure that it's accessible to everybody and not just select groups?

We have always been inclusive in our endeavours and we have seen people from different socio-economic backgrounds come and enjoy all the activities that are happening at The Steps. We have invited children from several NGOs like Angel Express Foundation on various occasions to come and participate in our workshops, and the local ALMs provide artists, as well as the audience. We see them come by regularly and they are our most loyal patrons!

Passersby, local residents and even people from faraway places who have heard about this event make it a point to stop by and witness the magic. All the activities, workshops and performances are free of charge, open to all ages. The Steps have become a melting pot where people, irrespective of their socio-economic, religious or political backgrounds come together under a common denominator, the power of community and the arts to transform lives.

Could you please shed some light on how the members have collaborated with the local authorities or other organisations to get the fest going?

Asif Zakaria, Municipal Councillor, MCGM has been a pillar of support from initiation of the Project with Abraham John Architects and Bombay Greenway, to execution with the MCGM, and he has also been instrumental in starting the festival. We have received continuous support from the MCGM H/West Ward Office, members of the ALM MCGM and some of their prominent members like Aakif Habib.

The Festival programming is curated collectively by Love Your Parks Mumbai, LittleBigCity and Haribhau Vishwanath Musical Industries. Last but not the least, the Festival would have been impossible without the efforts and talent of the many amazing Artists who have come and performed pro-bono - true believers in our cause which is "Art for Art's Sake - Art and Community for a better world."

Image credit: Tina Nandi

Events line-up:

Image credit: Dhanashree Diwane