Would you imagine anyone going around the world in 30 seconds? Well if you were at the YouTube FanFest held at Bandra’s amphitheatre on Saturday 1^st March, Michael Stevens aka VSauce made that possible. Streamed live on YouTube, Stevens who explores the history, science and psychology behind seemingly ordinary, everyday phenomena’s, set a record for those watching all around the world to type in their country in a set frame of time. And believe it or not YouTube made the world go round.

In an age where digital platforms are making all kinds of music more accessible to the public, YouTube has proven to be a blessing to not just the general public, but to established and new artists as well. 18 year old Shraddha Sharma who uploaded music videos of her songs a few years ago to show her friends her singing skills, has today joined fellow YouTube stars like Justin Bieber and Psy when she released her debut album Raastey at the event, becoming the first ever Indian YouTube singer to release an album.

Strong of its Singapore inaugural edition and success in May 2013 with 18 established and breakout global sensations with over 3.8 billion combined views, the YouTube FanFest with HP is now spreading to new territories that matter in the digital world across Asia.

In an age where digital platforms are making all kinds of music more accessible to the public, YouTube has proven to be a blessing to not just the public, but to established and upcoming artists as well. The video sharing site catapulted artists like Justin Bieber, Christina Perri and Psy into the limelight, making them stars in their own rights.

Besides Sharma, there was a galaxy of YouTube discoveries. The biggest of them all was Canadian Lily Singh aka Superwoman who found fame through her hilarious and inspiring comedy videos that centre on various topics. A singer and rapper, this was Singh’s first trip to the country. “I find the country really inspiring. A lot of my work is influenced by my Indian heritage, which I am very proud of. So you would probably see me playing characters inspired by my Punjabi parents. I play a double role and take on the role of my mother very often for some wise cracks, all for a good fun” states the 25 year old who has 172 million views and 2 million subscribers on her channel. Star struck and screaming her name, fans just couldn’t get enough of Singh who literally brought the house down, preventing her from giving a performance.

American beauty guru, vlogger Bethany Mota from the US was another big draw with fans who shared tips on fashion and style. You also had our very own Scherezade Shroff doing an on the spot makeup in 3 minutes. The Parsi blogger also has her own YouTube channel offering make – up tutorials.

The event also saw live performances by local artists like The Viral Fever who re – created a debate on the Aam Aadmi. You had Biswajit talking Arnab Goswami in conversation with an Arjun Kejriwal lookalike. The spoof got loud cheers and a huge round of applause from the audience for their catchy punch lines.

Maati Baani a Mumbai based indie band played some soulful music blending folk with Sufi, funk and traces of jazz. Nirali Kartik on vocals was excellent. We also had American clarinetist and composer Shankar Tucker performing four tracks from his music video series The ShrutiBox. Shankar is not new to Indian music and claims that his parents named him Shankar “maybe because of the great sitarist Ravi Shankar” laughs the 20 something who fuses Indian classical music and jazz, adding “or even maybe Shankar Mahadevan”. On a serious note Tucker stated that his first name was suggested by spiritual guru Mata Amritanandamvi whom his family follows.

YouTube FanFest helped in bringing YouTubers and their followers to forge a tangible bond between each other. The digital video world stepped out of their screens to join fans in the flesh in one single venue during one single day on Saturday, March 1. Fans' favorite videos came alive, behind the scenes reports came on, touching the hall of fame and discovering new talents made the event much more spectacular, not forgetting the personal meet-and-greet opportunity to meet those you only view in a dream world.

Tickets to the event were given out free to those who visited the site, on a first in first served basis.

Hosted by four of India’s most popular stand-up comedians that go under the name All India Bakchod (AIB), YouTube FanFest was a super success. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who made a surprise entry to drop his kids for the show, came back again for the finale joining TVF and AIB for a bit of fun on stage. He stated. "Anybody who mimics me should never say, 'I love you Kkkk...Kiran.' This should end officially here on YouTube." It was an evening to remember for YouTube fans. But considering the massive fan following the video sharing website garners, the amphitheatre proved to be rather small for a gig this big. It was sad to see many fans that couldn’t get a chance to watch their YouTube stars in the flesh.

All in all, this was truly Mumbai’s chance to see the power of social communities live!

Text and Photos by Verus Ferreira