August 27, 2014 by Foha Raza No CommentsArt & Artists, Events

OLO BOLO OPEN MIC NIGHT

When we found out about the ‘OLO Bolo Open Mic Night’ we weren’t sure what we were walking into. However, entering that studio space we found ourselves awed. Even though the space was small it was indeed very welcoming with a familial atmosphere housing about 50-60 people including some children and older people but mostly the youth.

The Olo Bolo Open Mic Night was full of entertainment and the performances left us inspired. The talent on stage included musical performances by a variety of performers; a woman visiting Lahore from New Jersey had been singing for decades with her husband, a young boy performing on the mic for the first time, a 6 year old child, and more… There were literature and poetry readings as well.

The entire night was full of people and their stories…. We experienced Lahore as a cultural hub. For those who think food is the only form of entertainment in the city, we say look up events by OLOMOPOLO and other cultural centers, they are doing truly amazing and inspirational work.

Speaking of the event, the management commented “OLO BOLO or better known as the Open Mic Night was a long awaited event for us at OLOMOPOLO Media. We wanted to provide a place for people from any part of the society to come, take the mic and do whatever they wanted. OLO BOLO was a way to get people to come show their talents, talk about whatever they wanted to and perform without having the fear of being judged – and that is what an Open Mic Night is all about. It is not about the best performance, the funniest joke or the best moves, but about gathering ones confidence and showing what you’ve got.

OLOMOPOLO Media has other events like the upcoming Sassti Shuhrat where we have already handpicked performers to perform, but this new venture or brand was a chance for us to have fun and meet great people and especially new people. Who knows, maybe we could handpick someone from this OLO BOLO to perform at our other events. We really hope that we would be able to do more OLO BOLOs so that more people get the confidence, and be more aware of themselves.”

WHAT IS OLOMOPOLO?

For those who don’t know; OLOMOPOLO Media is a ‘media and art management and entertainment’ organization that aims to enhance quality entertainment in society. They focus primarily on art, media and culture. Their activity center called OLO Junction hosts cultural and art activities weekly. Among these activities there are regular sessions of OLO TATOLO that revolves around interacting with children between ages of 3-13 in arts and crafts, music and storytelling sessions every Sunday. They host sessions for dramatic readings, dance, theatre performances as well. The organization has four creative brands under its umbrella; the OLO Factree (skill building workshops and classes for performing arts), OLO TATOLO (children’s interaction classes), OLO Junction (theatrical, dance and cultural interactive performances et al.) and the OLO Art Jamaat (regular art, multi-discipline design, yoga and dance classes).