YouTube FanFest: Celebrating the creators success

In a recent town event, YouTube, the largest provider for online video consumption is back with its second year of YouTube FanFest in India. The event which goes live today in NSCI, Worli will witness about 4600 fans and about 31 stars who have travelled from all parts of the world to meet their fans.

While some of the Indian comedians and channels will also be present at the event like The Viral Fever and All India Bakchod, the event has already created a lot of buzz among the fans. While The Viral Fever, All India Bakchod have the crossed the 1 million subscribers mark, they happen to be amongst the most subscribed creator channels in Asia on YouTube.

Celebrating the success of online creators in India, YouTube shared a new milestone reached by young Indian creators. The Viral Fever (TVF) and All India Bakchod (AIB) have become the first independent creator groups in India to amass followings of over 1 million subscribers on their YouTube channels.

This milestone represents the growth of independent content creation on YouTube over the past two years. Fuelled by the growing Internet user base and the rise of online video in India, young and innovative creators are embracing YouTube as a platform to broadcast their talent and engage with fans worldwide. With over a million subscribers, The Viral Fever and All India Bakchod are now amongst the most subscribed creator channels across Asia.

In a press event — held with both local and global creators like ||Superwoman||, Bethany Mota, Jus Reign, TVF, and many more — YouTube announced its commitment to further support the creator ecosystem in India. The event took place on the eve of the second-ever YouTube FanFest in Mumbai, where over 6000 fans will get to meet some of YouTube's biggest stars, local internet sensations, and up-and-coming talent as they perform live on stage.

“India has always been a Bollywood and traditional media-loving country, and now we’re seeing online stars like TVF and AIB unleash a new kind of Indian entertainment on YouTube. We’re excited about the growth of content creation in English, Hindi, and regional Indian languages alike, and our goal is to continue helping this new generation of Indian creators succeed on YouTube,” said, Gautam Anand, Director Content & Partnership, APAC YouTube.

Arunabh Kumar, founding member of TheViralFever said, “1 million subscribers holds special significance as usually it is the traditional media companies who have 5,000 to 10,000 videos that gain million plus subscribers. TheViralFeverVideos has just 107 videos for now, and over 30 videos of the network have gone viral so far and have millions of views. Our next target is to get at least 5 to 10 million viewers every month.”

At the launch of the event, Jasper Donat, Executive Producer, YouTube FanFest said, “We launched YouTube FanFest in Singapore 2 years back and since then it has been a huge success. This is out second year in India and we are really excited to witness a crazy crowd today. Without the fans the YouTube FanFest is incomplete.” He adds, “Last year we had only 15 stars from the world to perform at YouTube FanFest while this year we have got 31 stars and it is probably the largest event we are hosting.”

Speaking about its association with YouTube FanFest 2015 and Crash The Pepsi IPL challenge, Ruchira Jaitly, Senior Director Marketing – Social Beverages, PepsiCo India said, “Today’s generation is looking for new experiences and fun challenges. They believe in creativity, co-creation and leaving a mark wherever they go. For us, the YouTube FanFest embodies all of this. Brand Pepsi has always inspired youth imagination and challenged convention with its irreverent spirit and our new campaign, Crash The Pepsi IPL, is no exception. Crash The Pepsi IPL challenges consumers to uncork their creative side, and like the YouTube creators, urges consumers to be inspired by imagination, and make something new which will go live on TV as their next TVC.”

YouTube FanFest is set to take center stage today at the NSCI Indoor Stadium in Mumbai, and all general admission tickets made available on Thursday March 5th were snapped up within four hours. For those who can’t make the live show, YouTube FanFest will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/fanfest.