India, Jan. 30 -- STRAP: Sound, check, action: Fest time! Campus is abuzz, and for all the right tunes as Delhi University colleges are going to turn into festival arenas with some of the country's biggest artistes being approached and competitions being lined-up. But to make it all a hit, the prep should be absolutely on point. Ensuring the same with posters, Reels, and cryptic teasers are student organisers across the campus. Racing against time to lock in sponsorship deals and finalising the most popular musicians while balancing budget, themes and safety, here's how DU students are living live on an overdrive of late. Artist reveal, and how! Fest organising teams have begun teasing audience through the fest posters, but holding back on the crucial artiste reveal. The comments sections are reeking of student wish list. While LSR is planning to take the Indi artiste route like last year, others are eyeing Bollywood biggies. "We want to put a great show and of course are listening to what the students want," shares Ayush Pathak, a second-year student of Sri Venkateswara College's fest Nexus' team, adding, "Last year we had singer Javed Ali at our fest. This time, we're trying our best to meet the demands and thus taking time to finalise the finale artiste. But we've put out a theme reveal cover on our Insta handle with clips showing footage of singers Salim-Sulaimaan, Shaan, Papon, Ankit Tiwari and Neeti Mohan." Seal the sponsorship What remains as one of the most demanding yet rewarding parts of the fest prep for student organisers is the issue of sponsorship. "Currently, there's this great energy throughout the campus where all of us in the organising committees are just trying to top what we managed to pull off last year," Mallika Negi, a second-year student of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), which organises Crossroads that was budgeted at around 75 lakh last year including sponsorship of 50 lakhs. She adds, "Procuring sponsorships is the most fun part of the fest season preparation. It is hands-on experience in sales, marketing, strategy building. Since we want to make our fest bigger and better, it's possible if only if can manage to get a meatier budget that mostly comes from sponsors." Some such as Ishita Jain, from the Reverie team at Gargi College, informs, "We've made a publicity team that is tirelessly reaching out to sponsors. From sending emails, to cold calling, and even scouting on ground -- we are doing everything possible to establish a budget as big as we can to make our fest a blast." Theme matters Beyond the big names and budgets, themes continue to shape the look and feel of campus celebrations. "The theme of the fest is decided after ideation with the aesthetics team and the core union," says Sunidhi, a second-year student of Bharati College and organising team member of Abhivyakti, adding, "We've had intense idea meetings to discuss this year's theme, and decided the same keeping in mind the basic idea of creation as an art. We will disclose the final theme soon, on the same lines. And then the college campus' walls will be covered in artsy hues and even the lawn will bloom will all possible colours." Better safe than sorry Alongside all the excitement is the important thought of how to ensure safety, especially at women's colleges where crowd control concerns remain to be high. "On behalf of every female student, I must say that safety is one of the most major concerns that crosses our mind when we attend a DU fest so we give importance to the same while planning our fest," says Mansha Rajni Kant, a second-year student and member of Tarang's organising team at Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR). Mansha adds that even with extensive measures, organisers are aware of the risks. "There is almost always extensive security to check the crowd yet it's impossible to make sure that nothing goes wrong. This year, however, our college's organising committee has come up with an even more elaborate security check system. We've decided that a stricter emphasis we be to ensure that the 'Plus One Guest' policy isn't misused or exploited. So, if anyone is bringing along a friend then they will be required to undergo verification beforehand, and submit all the details so that no outsiders are able to sneak in." Kamala Nehru College is also stepping up its arrangements for Ullas. Kirti Nidhi, a second-year student, shares that managing crowds during fests has always been challenging. "The security for our fest is pretty good but it does get difficult to manage large crowds. This year, we've got a much better system in place, we will have a lot more students from with our student body be a part of the crowd management team," she adds. Extra: Rohan Kumar, a second-year student of Ram Lal Anand College, says, expects SRCC to make headlines once again after last year's performance. "Having attended the performance by Seedhe Maut at SRCC last year, I'm really looking forward to what they have planned for this year. It seems to be along the same lines as last year. Wouldn't complain if it did."...