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Third edition of India Nightlife Convention & Awards concludes in Delhi
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Monday, 24 September, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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The third essay of the India Nightlife Convention and Awards (INCA), a two-day event concluded in New Delhi recently. The event was organised by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and Kickstart Entertainment in association with presenting partners Budweiser Experiences and Johnnie Walker – The Journey.
The convention not only showcased the ever-evolving and dynamic nightlife culture by highlighting the industry’s accomplishments, but also promoted a sense of brotherhood among the industry’s most influential hospitality entrepreneurs and specialists. This year’s event was marked by workshops and panel discussions, which were followed by the awards, at which the best in the Hospitality and nightlife industry were felicitated.
Endorsing the nightlife culture in India, stalwarts of the hospitality industry, including Riyaaz Amlani, chief executive officer and managing director, Impresario Hospitality Pvt Ltd; A D Singh, managing director, Olive Bar and Kitchen Pvt Ltd, Rahul Singh, founder and chief executive officer, The Beer Cafe,and president, NRAI, and chefs Manu Chandra, Vicky Ratnani and Saransh Golia, came together to showcase the best that the Indian bars and nightlife have to offer for the national business convention.
Prolific personalities from around the world, such as Mirik Milan, former night mayor, Amsterdam; Lutz Leichsenring of the Club Commission of Berlin and co-founder, VibeLab; Hideyuki Yukoi, night ambassador, Shibuya City, Tokyo, and Joaquim Boadas De Quintana, secretary general, International Nightlife Association, flew down to New Delhi to share their insights, divulge secrets and bring in a global perspective and help identify trends for making a vibrant and profitable nightlife and bar culture in the country.
The first day began with the 30under30 workshop. It was a very informative and interesting roundtable workshop that brought together young stakeholders from India’s music, nightlife, and hospitality scene to build a constructive and informative dialogue about the future on nightlife culture in the country.
The workshop was hosted by Leichsenring. The topics discussed included access to decision makers, framework conditions, awareness, education, community building, protecting creative space and operating a cultural public or private venue.
The workshop tuned out to be extremely result-driven and collaborative in nature. A lot of fresh ideas and perspectives were shared, and INCA is now looking forward to streamline the thoughts and find ways to put them into action. The participants in it included Karyna Bajaj, executive editor, KA Hospitality; Arjun Shah, founder and chief executive officer, Shark & Ink; Varun Patra, co-founder, Homegrown, and Divya Dureja, personal development mentor and curator.
Industry leaders like Ashish Tulsian, co-founder, POSist; Amin Ali, special correspondent, The Times of India, and DJ Mocity, promoter and co-founder, Boxout.fm, were moderators for panel discussions on topics such as Scaling Bars, Evolution of Day Life and Are You Serving The Right Music.
A comprehensive set of city awards were awarded at the end of the first day.
The second day on the convention was led by moderators like Rahul Singh, Goila, Faye D’Souza, executive editor, Mirror Now, and Deepali Gupta, co-founder, Slate Consulting, and author, Times Nightlife Guide.
The last panel of the day was led by Sourish Bhattacharya, independent journalist. The panellists comprised Amlani, A D Singh, Priyank Sukhija, chief executive officer and managing director, First Fiddle F&B Pvt Ltd, and Kishore DF, owner and director, Another Drop Hospitality.
The important topics touched on in this last, but dynamic, panel were as follows: Bar Food Trends; When Life Gives You Lemon; Add Tequila, Changing Tides: The Rise of Cocktail Bars, The Women of Nightlife and more. This was followed by the most-awaited Awards Night, where finalists were recognised at both the regional and national levels after being judged by 130 jury members across India.
The list of national winners is as follows:
Best Lounge: KOKO Asian Gastropub, Mumbai
Best Night Club: Kitty Su, The Lalit, New Delhi
Best Bar in a Hotel: Rockpool, W Goa
Best Bar Chain: Social
Best Beer Café: Toit, Bangalore
Best Bar for Cocktails: KOKO Asian Gastropub, Mumbai
Best Resto-Bar: Olive Bar and Kitchen, Mumbai
Best Sports Bar: SMAAASH, Delhi NCR
Best Dive Bar: Café Mondegar, Mumbai
Best Open Air Bar: Marbela Beach Restaurant, Goa
Best Bar Food: Slink and Bardot, Mumbai
Best Venue for Live Performances: The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi
Best Bar for Wines: The Wine Company, Gurgaon
Best Concept Bar: The Bar Stock Exchange, Mumbai
Best Café Bar: Perch Wine and Coffee Bar, Delhi NCR
Best Debut Bar: B Kitchen and Bar, Mumbai
Best Bar Interior: Arth, Mumbai
Best Stand-Up Act in a Bar: Atul Khatri, Mumbai
INCA Artist of The Year, Bollywood: Akhil Sachdeva, Delhi NCR
INCA Artist of The Year, Non- Bollywood: The Local Train, Delhi NCR
Best Bartender: Chong Sherpa, PCO, NCR
Best Mixologist: Jeet Rana, Arth, Mumbai
Best Pop-up: Warpcore, Delhi
Best Promoter: Slick, National
Best Restaurant/Bar Manager: Rahul Raghav, The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai
Best Artist Manager: Shark and Ink, National
Best F&B Director: Ranveer Sabhani, Social, Bengaluru
Best Music Event/Festival: VH1 Supersonic, National
Best DJ of the Year: Arjun Vagale, Delhi NCR
Best Bar of the Year: Social
The second day also saw another set of special awards being awarded to thought leaders in the industry.
INCA DJ of the Decade: DJ Akbar Sami
Contribution to the Music and Nightlife Industry: DJ Akhtar
Nightlife Champion Inclusivity: Keshav Suri
INCA Technology/App of the Year 2018: Zomato
Speaking on conclusion of the third edition of INCA, Aman Anand, director, Kickstart Entertainment, siad, “The aim behind INCA has been to build a coalition for the nightlife industry across India.”
“The convention wasn’t just disruptive in vision, but also in endeavor and method to bring together the industry. We recognised the integral role that social media played in today’s largely digital world, and used it to identify our 30 Under 30,” he added.
Rahul Singh said, “Through INCA, we wanted to reach out to the policymakers to address concerns to make a more progressive and compliant system that boosts entrepreneurial drive for enhancing the nightlife industry.”
“India’s food and beverage (F&B) industry has seen explosive growth in the last few years. Factors like a largely youthful demographic, increasing disposable income, higher exposure to international trends and changing consumer lifestyles have increased demand for a buoyant nightlife, and this growth shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Nightlife adds personality to communities, helps bring people together and has an enormous social impact on the liveability index of a city,” he added.
“Nightlife is an integral part of the cultural landscape of our country, and the third edition has been a success in recognising and celebrating thought leadership in hospitality and nightlife entertainment space,” said Amlani.
Speaking on the conclusion of the third essay of the event, Ben Verhaert, president, India, AB InBev, said, “It has been a delight to partner with INCA once again this year, as we look back collectively to foster and shape the growing contribution of the nightlife industry in the country today.”
“Budweiser has always been at the forefront of shaping the music culture in the country and engaging consumers through world-class experiences around celebration and nightlife. We look forward to recognising the best in the industry for their contribution and continue to support the ecosystem going forward,” he added.
Abhishek Shahabadi, vice-president and portfolio head, marketing, premium and luxury, Diageo India, remarked, “It has been a pleasure to be associated with INCA that celebrates and recognises one of the most spirited and fastest growing industries in India for the last three years. The platform has helped create a cultural perception and elevate the lifestyle catalogue of the city.”
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