MUMBAI: GetSetUp, a learning and an interactive social platform for older adults is starting a music festival to celebrate music with elders. This five-day festival features musicians from all over India including vocalists and acoustics. Celebrate the country's dynamic culture in our week-long celebration.

GetSetUp music festival admits older adults over age of 50 to the festival for free. It will be held on Zoom on June 7th - 11th. To know more

Check the interview below:

Tell us about GetSetUp?

GetSetUp is a pioneering learning and community platform where older adults can learn about a variety of topics through a live, interactive peer-to-peer teaching model. GetSetUp was founded to create economic, social and educational opportunities for older adults, and in the 15 months since its founding, has achieved significant growth in partnerships and platform usage, including more than 1.2 million users in 160 countries and multiple partners, particularly in the health and wellness industry. During the past three months, GetSetUp users around the globe have logged more than 4 million active minutes on the platform by accessing the 500-plus hours of programming available each week. GetSetUp has localized sites in Australia and India, as well as in the U.S., and will soon launch sites in Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom.

How did you come up with the idea of a Music Festival?

GetSetup is a platform for seniors. We teach a variety of topics ranging from tech classes to music classes. We currently have over 30+ Music classes a week - Hindustani classical singing and antakshari etc. Our community is very talented and they regularly perform what they learn for others on the platform. We’ve hosted a few live musicians in the past for important days like Christmas, Republic day, Holi etc. We came up with this idea because our community loves the music classes and they really celebrate the diversity in music that India has to offer. We hosted a class on “Mountain Music and Folklores'' by Anita Panday; and it was a very big success. She shared folk stories and songs from Himachal Pradesh and our community absolutely enjoyed it. We got around 92,000 people attending the class/watching the recording. We want to do this music festival to showcase the talented seniors on our platform and give them an opportunity to create and perform music.

How can someone join the festival? Is there a fee to attend?

Yes, it is free to attend. You can visit https://www.getsetup.io/series/GSUMusicFest and sign up for as many sessions as you like. You will need a phone number to register and you will receive the link to the session on the registered phone number.

How do you think music helps seniors during these tough times?

This lockdown has been hard and isolating for seniors. Many haven’t met their families and haven’t been able to step out and do the things they normally do. Listening to music, singing songs and enjoying different kinds of music can be very uplifting. Our goal with this music festival is to showcase India’s diversity of music but also bring joy to our community. We want to do this music festival to showcase the talented seniors on our platform.

What kind of music will be covered?

We are covering a full range of music. There is Carnatic Music with ISAI, they will perform semi-classical and devotional songs. Acoustic music with Arvind Patole who will be playing songs on his guitar. Ghazal and Geet with Dhiraj Kant and finally sing along Bollywood songs with Vijay Salve.