THE GREATER CAROLINA KERALA ASSOCIATION

Cultural Programs Rules & Regulations

These rules have been created to ensure fairness and equal opportunity to everyone in our region’s ever- growing Kerala community. Much thought and feedback have gone into the formulation of these rules by the present and past GCKA BOD members, and mostly remained consistent through the recent years, with little edits or modifications.

We request you therefore to kindly keep these sets of rules in mind when you register for the programs to enable a smooth and efficient build up to the grand event. Thank you in advance!

In the event that the program registration exceeds the planned event timings, GCKA BOD will give more priority to the programs with maximum number of participants. Programs with fewer participants will be contacted individually and GCKA BOD will work with them and may advise on a few suggestions or changes to accommodate all programs in the scheduled time frame. Preference will be given to programs based on the following considerations (and in that order):
- A greater number of participants to ensure higher representation
- Christmas / New Year Theme (Christmas New Year Pgm) Or Onam Theme (Onam Program)
- Newly registered GCKA members /New participants
Once the registration is submitted, the preferred medium of all subsequent communication between the GCKA Cultural Committee and the program registrant is via email. Direct all your queries to culturals@gcka.com ONLY. It is the program registrant’s responsibility to monitor his or her email and respond to any communication regarding the program within 48 hours. GCKA shall not be held responsible for any missed communication such as, but not limited to, unnoticed emails or emails that have gone directly to the recipient's spam folder.
Acknowledgement of your registration does not automatically confirm acceptance of your program. After necessary verifications, the GCKA Cultural Committee will send a separate email to confirm your program.
Only active GCKA members can register and participate in the program. Names of all the participants and their GCKA Member IDs must be provided to theGCKA Cultural Committee during registration. Participants without valid Member IDs shall be presumed to be non-members and the program will be disqualified. Any discrepancy in the participant list may lead to cancellation of the entire program up to and including the day of the event. It is the responsibility of the program registrant to make sure that they provide the correct details.

Note: To become a member of GCKA, one needs to be of Kerala/Malayali origin living in NC. Children of parent(s) of Malayali/Kerala descent, and spouses of those of Malayali/Kerala descent are also qualified for membership.
One Participant - One program:
- A GCKA member can only participate in a single program.
- Exception to the above rule is applicable only for GCKA special sponsored programs such as opening program, Malayalam Kalari program, grand finale, and Youth program.
- Solo and even duet performances will not be accepted at this time, unless we run into a rare situation where we don’t have enough participation, in which case we shall notify all members.
- Our community is growing by leaps and bounds and GCKA encourages a more varied representation of our community on stage.

Programs shall belong to one of the following categories. It is mandatory that all programs should adhere to the criteria listed below:

ID	Category	Min. no. of Participants	Max. Program Duration on Stage	Total time allowed including setup, perform & exit
1	Songs – w/o live instruments or Karaoke	3	4 minutes	5 minutes
2	Dance – Classical	3	4 minutes	5 minutes
3	Dance – Folk/Semi classical/Fusion/Western / Contemporary/Cinematic etc.	6	5 minutes	6 minutes
4	Variety programs - Skit/Drama/Mime	7	8 minutes	10 minutes
5	Live instruments, etc.	7	6 minutes	10 minutes

The GCKA BOD in its discretion will determine how many programs of each category can be approved to perform on the Event Day.
Rules regarding songs: The same song cannot be sung/danced in more than one program, if used in its entirety. The group who registers the item first will be given preference to perform the item on the Event Day. An option will be given to the other group to pick an alternate item. An exception may be given in case the song is just a part of a medley of songs being used for the dance/singing performance.
Rules regarding Theme/Concept: The same theme cannot be used in more than one program. The first group who registers the program with all relevant details will be given preference to perform the theme. An option will be given to the other group to pick an alternate theme.
Light Requirements, Keep it simple. The GCKA Cultural committee reserves the right to reject any requirements which are beyond the abilities of volunteers/technicians/facility.
The GCKA Cultural Committee reserves the right to determine and cancel any registration that is made with an intention to act as a “filler” slot.
The program registrant MUST hand over the write-up about the program and all stage requirements (lighting, audio requirements, props, membership details of all participants etc.) to the GCKA Cultural Committee by the specified dates. Please provide good quality audio tracks and presentations. GCKA will not be responsible for any issues regarding the quality of sound, or other presentation materials including images and videos. No stage requirements will be entertained after this deadline. a) Presentation materials are subject to technical feasibility. b) No requirements will be updated once it is confirmed and programmed on Rehearsal Day.
In order to be impartial and to keep the entire event interesting, the program will be scheduled at the discretion of the GCKA Cultural Committee. Requests for specific slots or changes to the assigned slots will not be entertained.
Rehearsal:
- All programs MUST be performed with props (where applicable) and curtains opened during rehearsal. Performing at rehearsal is mandatory for all participants and programs.
- With the exception of songs with NO accompanying instruments, any program that is not performed on the rehearsal day is subject to be voided or canceled.
- The schedule of the Rehearsal may vary from the actual program day schedule. The reporting times for each event will be communicated to the point of contact, and each team must report and perform on time as per the schedule, in order to avoid being voided or canceled.
GCKA Cultural Committee possesses exclusive rights to make amendments to any of the abovementioned rules & regulations in the interest of the overall success of the cultural event.
After confirmation of your program for the Event Day, please follow below guidelines while providing the program requirements and plans:
- Audio Files should be in .mp4 format
- File names should follow the sample format indicated below. Example: Assuming your program is approved, and your program Id is 15. The files should be named in below formats: • PGM_15_Props.xls • PGM_15_Video.mp4 • PGM_15_Karoake.mp4
- Duration: Make sure your audio/video track fits within the timeframe allocated for the specific category. Longer tracks need to be cut down to remain within the allocated time frame.
During the event, if the performance exceeds the total allocated time for your program, GCKA at its discretion have rights to close curtains to maintain and keep up with the overall event schedule. Request program coordinators to plan and prepare to avoid such incidents.
Participants are required to use the facilities that are available in the venue. Bringing outside audio and video systems are not allowed.
- Stage tape will be provided by BOD, choreographers/performers are NOT allowed to bring their own stage tape for programs.
Each program should have a single point of contact. GCKA Cultural Committee will be communicating with this person for any coordination, questions, or details.