New Year 2025: Exciting events and activities that await you this year in Mumbai

Pink carpet welcomeComing in AprilAT TS Chanakya Wetlands Navi MumbaiThe Flamingo Festival is all set to take flight once again this year after a hiatus owing to the COVID19 pandemic ldquoThe festival had become a crowdpuller with naturalists birders and families converging to celebrate the winged guests Wersquore ready to put on an even better festival in April this yearrdquo confirmedShardul Bajikar education officer BNHS Conservation Education CentreWith the first batch also known as a flamboyance of the migratory birds landing in the city last month for their winter retreat Bajikar revealed that the festival will be timed to coincide with the juvenile birds maturing into adults and their feathers turning the signature shade of pinkThe edition of the twoday festival will include a sighting session at the TS Chanakya Wetlands followed by activities talks discussions and games centred on flamingos ldquoWersquore introducing a series of talks by experts and a roundtable of NGOs and communities working towards the conservation and wellbeing of the flamingosrdquo Bajikar revealedJapanese groove in the cityComing in February AT To be decidedPic courtesyInstagramCan a solo guitarist keep Mumbaikars on the edge of their seats Wersquoll find out when Japanese guitarist Ichika Nito right takes the stage in the city next month Representing a genre that fits somewhere between math rock donrsquot fret itrsquos not as complex as it sounds and jazz Nitorsquos style might strike just the right chord with music geeks who are looking for outofthe box sounds this year On the back of support from icons like John Petrucci of Dream Theatre and Pete Townshend of The Who the tour marks the neoclassical guitaristrsquos debut in the countryDharavi to the worldComing in January 23AT NCPA Nariman PointThe Dharavi Dream Projectrsquos young artistes have stayed true to their 2024 New Yearrsquos resolution After months of working with director Neha Singh under the mentorship of Dolly Rateshwar Dharavi Dreams their debut musical production will tour the city with its troupe of dancers rappers and bboys The first show will take the stage at the NCPA ldquoThe play is Dharavirsquos success story of transforming from a hub of the vices to a melting pot of artistic talent Itrsquos their story told through their experiences in their stylerdquo Singh informed usMusic to our earsComing in First half of 2025Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in performance at an IMG eventTo celebrate 50 years of nurturing Indian classical music alongside stalwarts like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and late Ustad Zakir Hussain the Indian Music Group of St Xavierrsquos College Dhobi Talao will publish its firstever book with inputs from young and veteran musiciansNewsy chucklesComing in FebruaryAT Sophia Bhabha AuditoriumUKbased comedian Russel Howard widely recognised for his TV shows Russel Howardrsquos Good News and The Russel Howard Hour will test how well his signature British humour fares with Mumbairsquos audience at his debut solo show in the cityBringing the cavalryComing in AugustAt to be decidedCome August and Sunil Shanbag will be ready with the horses quite literally The theatremaker will premiere his adaptation of Hungarian playwright Julius Haysrsquo iconic production Horse at the Aadyam Theatre Festival this year ldquoIt is set in the times of the Roman Empire ruled by Caligula The play is a take on how authoritarian systems function and benefit by misleading the masses using entertainment It is resonant to the environment of the dayrdquo shared ShanbagLionrsquos roarComing in First half of 2025AT Mumbai Zoo BycullaVisitors at Mumbai Zoo pose with a statue of an Asiatic lion File picAfter multiple attempts to find big cats for its vacant lion enclosure that is fit only for a king and queen the Mumbai Zoo is now hopeful of bringing in two Asiatic lions from Gujarat in the first half of 2025 Confirming that Mumbai will soon welcome a royal pair after more than a decade of efforts Dr Sanjay Kumar Tripathi director Mumbai Zoo said ldquoWe are pulling all strings to ensure the lions arrive as soon as possible The immediate goal is to ensure it happens in the first half of the year We are in talks with two possible organisations in Gujarat currentlyrdquo Tripathi further revealed that an ongoing plan to build an enclosure for exotic animals and birds at the zoo will gain speed this yearZubin will be backComing in JanuaryAT Jamshed Bhabha Theatre National Centre for the performing arts Nariman PointMaestro Zubin Mehta centre conducts a concert with the Symphony Orchestra of India at the NCPABegin the New Year on a magnificent note as the Symphony Orchestra of India returns to stage for its spring concert With an opening act by maestro ZubinMehta who will join renowned Slovenian classical pianist Alexander Gadjiev to perform Chopinrsquos Piano Concerto no 2 the lineup promises a number of classical and operatic masterpieces to the audienceAlso ReadZubin Mehta in Mumbai My life conducting orchestra is like a molten lava it never stopsSounds from ItalyComing in MarchAT to be decidedGiorgia Anguili in performance PICS COURTESYINSTAGRAMPugliaborn musician Giorgia Anguili will bring her unique style of techno music powered by ethereal vocals and experimental digital instruments Anguili will take the stage as part of the ZAMNA Music Festival in the city alongside South American artiste Shall OcinHit the rewind button for MumbaiComing in MarchAT To be decidedA new collective called Memory Keepers Collective led by author Shormistha Mukherjee is gearing to launch their new series of immersive audiovisual exhibitions centred on landmark events like The Bombay Plague of 1896 and its impact on the presentday suburbs of Mumbai ldquoIf you look closely there are visible signs of the impact the plague had on Bandra all around us Through the collective we aim to use oral history lived memories records documents and photographs to mix art performance and writing to create experiential glimpses about this forgotten historythat shaped Bandrardquo saidMukherjee belowMere gully meinComing in January test versionAvailable Steam StoreA still from the gameplay videoWhile the wait for the muchawaited speculated and anticipated GTA 6 title by Rockstar Games continues in 2025 things are moving much faster closer to home Mumbairsquos own version of the game titled Mumbai Gullies will be ready for a grand release this year With developer Nikhil Malankar currently working on finalising the ingame voiceovers and sound library expect the first test version to be out anytime this month In addition to realistic maps and a fully desi openworld experience wersquove learnt that a supernatural twist to the Maximum City ison the cards