A high-powered consortium between Phase 1 Experiences and Embassy Group will create an experiential and entertainment destination at the Bangalore Airport. The live entertainment company – Live Nation – will act as consultant to the consortium on the development of the project. Music entrepreneur and festival curator – Nikhil Chinapa – will take on his role as strategy and communications lead. The consortium, formed by Oum Pradutt, Founder and Managing Director of Phase 1 Experiences and Aditya Virwani, Chief Operating Officer of Embassy Group, will take on the massive project after having been awarded the tender, floated by BIAL to develop the arena. The development occurs at a time when the live events and entertainment industry is expected to double in growth from Rs 56.31 billion in 2016-17 to more than Rs 100 billion in 2020-21 (Source: EY – EEMA Report, 2017). “BIAL is pleased to announce the partnership with two market leaders in their respective areas of expertise. This is a significant stepping stone towards making the BLR Airport a hub of entertainment, not just for Bengaluru, but for the entire Country. This arena would be a first-of-its-kind to be created at an airport and the first multi-purpose venue in India to host events and other activity. This brings to life a new facet in BIAL’s commitment to offer unparalleled services to passengers and visitors, alike,” said Rao Munukutla, Chief Real Estate Officer, BIAL. Phase 1 Experiences is India’s most disruptive experiential organisation, with 24 years of experience in creating large-scale events globally and in India. Having successfully established four verticals across special projects, MICE, corporate and youth events, Phase 1 has forayed into the ownership, development and management of world-class entertainment arenas along with curation of content. Oum Pradutt, Founder & Managing Director, Phase 1 Experiences believes that the entertainment arena at BLR Airport would be the pinnacle of live entertainment in India: “Our vision is to radically enhance the live experience quotient of the Indian consumer. Just like multiplexes transformed the cinematic experience and 5G is about to reshape the digital experience, we aim to take the live entertainment experience to the next level in India. The venue will be at par with iconic international concert arenas such as New York’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena, enabling us to import the biggest shows and best of global talent to India. This will attract audiences and fans from not just across India, but across South Asia, and establish Bengaluru’s position as a live concert and entertainment capital – globally.”The technologically-advanced venue will host multi-genre events including concerts, theatrical extravaganzas, sporting events and mega-conferences. As a fully-integrated, multi-utility venue with flexible infrastructure and best-in-class visuals and acoustics, the arena will feature four distinct experience zones: A supersized dome will hold about 9,000 fans for concerts and mega-events, a separate dome will host large-scale corporate events for upto 2,000 people. An expansive outdoor space will be used for open-air events that take advantage of Bengaluru’s pleasant weather, year-round. A contemporary pop-up zone that reimagines an amalgamation of social networking, gastronomy, music and culture – the zone will be designed using up cycled shipping containers, with curated experiences 365 days a year. Most importantly, sufficient parking spaces will ensure that visitors have a completely seamless and stress-free experience. The Consortium will work closely with BIAL to imbibe and extend its vision of a sustainable and responsible corporate, including being water and power positive, as well as waste and carbon neutral. Following BIAL’s success in having turned the BLR Airport into an international hang-out zone through the launch of The Quad by BLR, the Consortium along with BIAL, is all set to create a world-class lifestyle destination and the ultimate entertainment venue in the country.