Who We Are

Manfest-Varchasva is the official annual Business, Cultural and Sports Festival of IIM Lucknow. The 3-day event is a confluence of Manfest, the Business Conclave and Varchasva, the Cultural and Sports  Festival.

Manfest-Varchasva 2022-23 was organised in offline mode after a wait of 3 years. The best 3 days at HelL saw a participation from over 30,000 students!

Some highlights of the fest are the Sports events and the Corporate Luncheon, attended in the past by luminaries such as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Mrs. Smriti Irani, Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mr. Ashish Vidyarthi, Mr. Harsh Mariwala, Dr. D. Subbarao and Mr. Kishore Biyani among others. The evenings are fun-packed with headlining Pro-Shows that have featured national and international Pop and Rock bands as well as artists such as KK, Guru Randhawa, Vishal and Shekhar, Amit Trivedi, Coke Studio, RDB, Euphoria and Pain of Salvation. Accompanying these are the CSR activities including a Lucknow City Run and nukkad-nataks in villages; some of the most fiercely contested cultural events such as “Jashn” - the Fashion Parade and the most challenging live management case studies and simulations. It is the only event of its kind in the country and the most awaited college event on campuses across India.

How it all started

Before embarking on a voyage, we commence with the reason why. The why keeps the compass pointed in the right direction, even during the darkest hours.

This post is a trip down memory lane - to the beginning.

In 1988, Manfest (short for Management Festival) started hosting a variety of leadership competitions, paper presentations, debates, and industry-student interactive sessions. In 2007, Manfest also obtained ISO 9001:2000 certification for event management. By 2009, the three-day festival was the largest B-school festival in Asia in terms of prize money and number of participants.

Varchasva, which started in 2009, was the cultural and sports festival of IIM Lucknow. It consisted of Dance, Fashion Parade, Theatre, Music, Literary, and Sports events. It grew rapidly to become IIM Lucknow's cultural celebration.

In 2014, the two festivals were merged to form Manfest-Varchasva in response to the actuality of the new generation, defined by some professors as "Generation which believed in dominating business presentations during the mornings and then partying until their feet stopped hurting at night."

Since 2014, the successive batches have collaborated every year to pull off excellence and ensure that MV is larger than ever before.