Bengaluru, 2 Feb

The Karnataka government today announced the seventh edition of ‘Bengaluru GAFX,’ one of the country’s largest AVGC-XR conferences and exhibitions.

Supported by the government and the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry and Start-up Karnataka, the event will be held from 27 February to 1 March here.

It is expected to bring together creators, studios, technologists, investors and industry leaders from the global media and entertainment ecosystem.

The state contributes nearly 20 per cent to the country’s media and entertainment industry and is home to over 300 Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality studios, employing around 15,000 professionals and is also supported by a strong freelance and gig ecosystem.

The theme for this year, 'Evolution Reloaded,’ reflects the next phase of growth in AVGC and immersive media sectors.

IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the AVGC Centre of Excellence has executed around 200 projects in animation, VFX, gaming, and XR.

With the rollout of AVGC CoE 2.0, the government aims to expand access beyond Bengaluru into Tier-II and Tier-III cities, creating a distributed creative technology network, he said.

The summit will feature sessions on major productions, including 'Kantara Chapter1', Netflix’s 'Kurukshetra', 'Mahavatar Narasimha', 'Dhurandhar', and 'Lokah'.

The event will also host a dedicated AI-for-VFX track, gaming sessions, VFX masterclasses, comics street, board game launches, GAFX art challenges, and a B2B investor connect, the release added.