# Bollywood Monster Mashup

The Bollywood Monster Mashup is a South Asian festival held at Mississauga Celebration Square in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by Vikas Kohli in 2011 and is organized by monstrARTity Creative Community (commonly referred to as monstrARTity), a not-for-profit arts organization. The event features artists from many genres of music and dance, including Bollywood, Tollywood, rock, disco, and pop, as well as food vendors and family-friendly activities. Notable acts who have performed at the festival include Sunny Leone, Aaman Trikha and Yasser Desai.
Bollywood Monster Mashup showcases established and emerging artists from around the world. Bollywood Monster Mashup's success led the Ontario Arts Council displaying a photo of Bollywood Monster Mashup on the cover of their province-wide strategic plan for 2022-2027.

## Awards

Bollywood Monster Mashup was rated #1 festival at Celebration Square by the City of Mississauga in 2018. Bollywood Monster Mashup also received the MARTY award for Festival of the Year by the Mississauga Arts Council in 2019 and won Virtual Festival of the Year in 2020.

## History
### 2011

#BollywoodMonster Mashup began as an International Indian Film Academy Awards event. It was headlined by Monali Thakur and included 54 other acts.

### 2012-2019

On the night of July 28, Bollywood singer Rajdeep Chatterjee headlined the 2012 #BollywoodMonster Mashup, which was now an independent festival. Other acts included the Bollywood Monster Choir, made up of 60 singers, who performed classic songs from films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Silsila, Bobby, and Pakeeza.
In 2013, #BollywoodMonster Mashup expanded its programming to a full day of activities. The August 24 event included a film festival, media arts festival and youth arts workshops. Headlining the festival was Kamal Khan; other acts included the Kaleidoscope Chinese Performing Arts Society (KCPA) and the Bollywood Dragon Orchestra, featuring singers Ferzana, Himanshu Merchant, Tanveer Badar and more.
The 2014 #BollywoodMonster Mashup festival was staged over 7 days, beginning August 22 and ending August 30. Headlining the festival was Rajdeep Chatterjee; other acts included Divine Heritage Artistry, Nick Pandya Band and Daizy Danzers.
In 2015, #BollywoodMonster Mashup took place over six days. The August 3–9 festival featured headliners Ash King and Jonita Gandhi. Other acts included a professional Bollywood dance troupe, a West-Indian steel pan group and a Tassa band. The event also featured a Bollywood Monster Film Festival curated by FILMI Toronto and a Bollywood Monster Film Shorts curated by Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
Aishwarya Nigam headlined the 2016 #BollywoodMonster Mashup festival. The July 22–23 event also included dance lessons, marketplace vendors and kid-friendly arts workshops.
Bollywood singers Jonita Gandhi, Aakanksha Sharma, and Kamal Khan headlined the 2017 festival, which took place July 21–22.
In 2018, #BollywoodMonster Mashup was headlined by Aaman Trikha and Khushboo Grewal. The July 21–22 event also featured performances from The Shiamak Showkids, The Giggle Queens, Himanshu and more. The event featured a designated KidZone and ChefZone, amongst other family-friendly activities.
Headlining the 2019 festival was Nikhita Gandhi and Yasser Desai; other acts included Parichay, Shiamak Show Kids, The Band Destiny and more. The three day event took place July 18–20, and featured a KidZone area as well as dozens of marketplace vendors.

### 2020

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, #BollywoodMonster Mashup was held as a virtual event: #StayHome with #BollywoodMonster Mashup. Headlining the festival were Sunny Leone, Arjuna Harjai and the Meet Bros ft. Khushboo Grewal etc. Other acts included N2 The Band, BollyHeelsTO, Devin Ramoutar and more. Other festivities included a #BollywoodMonster Kidz Hour and a Q&A featuring TVOKids Dino Dana's Dad, portrayed by actor Amish Patel.

### 2021

The COVID-19 Pandemic led to another year of virtual concerts for #BollywoodMonster Mashup. Raftaar headlined the festival; other acts included Deep Kalsi & Yuna, Rashmeet Kaur and Canada's Drag Race winner Priyanka. The six day event included festivities like the #BollywoodMonster Kidzone as well as a Q&A with Akash Vukoti.

### 2022

On August 5 and 6, 2022, #BollywoodMonster Mashup returned to in-person. The festival featured headliners Sunny Leone, Aaman Trikha, Yasser Desai and Aakanksha Sharma. Other acts included Team NRITYA, DDA Canada, Reign Yash Dance Academy and more. Attendees also had access to dozens of food and clothing vendors as well as free youth and senior arts workshops.