PECFEST 2018

PECFEST 2018 started with a bang on the 26th of October. The air was full of festive fervour, with the crowd bubbling with excitement.‘The City of Stars’ was lit up, twinkling with the enthusiasm of all the students.

Following the tradition, the fest kick-started with the Mini Marathon at 6:30 in the morning. Dr. Uma Batra, Director of the institute, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and flagged off the marathon. About five hundred students wearing the vibrant colours of this year’s PECFEST T-Shirt were seen along the road to Sukhna Lake. The auditorium witnessed glimpses of the Punjabi culture through Punjabi Editorial Board’s events Rang Manch and Rang Punjab De. English Editorial Board’s Twist-a-Script and Reality Check gathered participants from various colleges, showcasing their writing skills.

Several other events like Group Discussion, World on Crust, Super Shot, and Brushstrokes of Change continued with overwhelming participation by the students. Participants of the Treasure Hunt could be seen searching for clues in teams of two throughout the whole campus.

The technical enthusiasts enjoyed their share of events, ranging from technical quizzes to a canoe building event, coding contests like the Ultimate Coding Showdown and a fourteen hour, all night long Ethical Hacking event- ‘Denial of Service’, too saw a lot of participation.

The evening lineup on the Main Stage featured melodious renditions by Fazal the Band. Both Rockathon, the music event and Groovz, the dancing competition saw teams competing neck to neck to get through the preliminary stages to the mesmerising finals on the main stage. Glitterati, the modeling and fashion competition set higher bars this year with ample participation from other universities. Bhangra Theque, the traditional Bhangra event was the most appreciated event of the evening, despite the intense competition. The audience and the participants seemed to thoroughly enjoy the marvellous evening beneath the stars.

Winners of Groovz, Glitterati and Bhangra Theque were felicitated by Dr. Perminderjit Singh, Dean Student Affairs. The festival has partnered with IIT Bombay's TechFest and Mood-Indigo as well as Maruti Suzuki's Colours of Youth. 

PECFEST, the three day techno-cultural fest of Punjab Engineering College, saw major participation on its first day, which began with a marathon by Kings XI Punjab. The fest then moved on to its second day, which hosted more than 60 events, starting as early as 8:00 am and wrapping up at 11:00 pm. The second day started with fun filled competitions like ‘Drama Rama’, ‘Nukkad Natak’ and ‘Street Hussle’, which attracted a lot of attention. As the day progressed, different bands performed enthusiastically for the Fusion Band competition. The Open Air Theatre remained a hotspot with events as traditional as Antakshiri to the more contemporary ones like Open Mic and Slam Poetry. PECFEST witnessed zealous participation from all over the northern zone of the country throughout the two days. Technical events like the 'Aeromodelling Challenge’, ‘Code and Go’ and 'CADventure’, stole the attention of the engineering enthusiasts, who put their technical prowess to test through various prize winning competitions. ‘Talking Library’ became a popular session of the day, which hosted three diverse and meritorious personalities from different walks of life, who shared their inspirational experiences through personal conversations with the participants. An expert lecture on Artificial Intelligence was conducted by Vikas Mittal, the CEO of 360 Digital Transformation, which was followed by an engaging and interactive discussion on the trends in Artificial Intelligence. Comedian Gaurav Gupta performed his special stand-up event in the auditorium to a thunderous applause and unrestrained laughter. The most awaited event of the evening was the musical performance by The Local Train. The EDM Night was no less, with the crowd dancing along to every beat. These exuberant performances thus marked the end of a day which featured many versatile events, paving way for the final day, scheduled with a concert of Bollywood singer, Sukhwinder Singh, which is expected to attract a huge crowd.

The past two days in tricity have been abuzz with activity with the ongoing PECFEST 2018, the techno-cultural fest of Punjab Engineering College. The festival showed no signs of slowing down, as its third day commenced with events like Conventional Debate Competition and Street Bhangra. The events struck a chord with the natives of the city and thus attracted a lot of crowd. Music events like Rap Battle and Solo Instrumental, saw enthusiastic participation from colleges all across North India.

An interactive session on ‘Ideation Brainstorming’ was conducted by Dr. Arun Kumar Grover, Ex Vice Chancellor, PU and Col. Anup Ludka, Defense Analyst, in the auditorium which provided an intellectual getaway from the din of the performances. Apart from a vast display of technical and cultural medley, events like Case Study competition, Pictionary and ‘Barter’ successfully engaged the participants and challenged their intellect and creativity. The day was also scheduled with the finals of the coveted Mr. And Ms. PECFEST contest, which saw astounding performances by the finalists and the decision came down to the wire. Ibaadat and Symphony, the bands from the tricity, were a massive hit with the youth.
 
The highlight of the final day of PECFEST was the music concert by Bollywood singer, Sukhwinder Singh. Mr. Shashank Anand, Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Chandigarh was the Chief Guest of the concert. The stage pulsed with the energy and exuberance of this dexterous artist as this three-day extravaganza concluded on a vivacious end with the hope for an even better fest next year.