Canada's largest South Asian youth festival is going virtual next month

Canada’s largest South Asian youth festival, 5X festival, will be presenting its annual celebration entirely online this June, to bring people together while apart.

5X: Race to the Stage is being presented in collaboration with global wellness and engagement platform Stepathlon to invite festival-goers across the world to explore a virtual world through online activities and challenges.

“By downloading the app, festival-goers will immerse themselves in a virtual world, exploring 40+ stages located across the globe, featuring concerts, performances and 60+ of their favourite local and international creators to complete their journey and arrive at the 5X Mainstage for a two-day experience,” reads a release from the festival.

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“Participants will explore the hottest in South Asian youth culture through creativity and movement, while encouraging mental and physical health.”

The event includes a six-week registration period, and an eight-week virtual journey, where participants combine “creativity and movement” each day, uploading content from the safety of their homes and logging their activity to discover over 40 stages and to unlock exclusive content, merchandise, and prizes.

“There are approximately 210 million South Asian millennials in North America and India alone; we want to unite and evolve our community beyond physical boundaries. We create a space where artists can meet artists, novices can meet masters, and fans can be inspired to find their inner artist,” said Tarun Nayar, executive director of the 5X Festival.

“We have always aspired to be a global brand and online community, and although COVID-19 has been devastating for everyone, it has also been a catalyst for us to fast-track towards this goal.”

Those who progress through the entire festival will be awarded a Golden Ticket to the 5X Mainstage, a weekend with 14 A-list South Asian creators on September 19 and 20, 2020.

Previous editions of the festival have hosted notable guests, such as Rupi Kaur, Raja Kumari, Jasmine Sandlas, Mickey Singh, Sandy Lion, and more.

5X: Race to the Stage registration opens June 11. For more information, visit the 5X website.