DJ Asad had a dream. A dream to celebrate Mumbai's ever-popular Ganesh festival, but in a contemporary context. A dream to take the traditions and festivities of our ancient culture, and to celebrate them with today's urban fervor. A dream to fuse our primeval shlokas and chants with modern melodies and rhythms. A dream to unite people from all walks of life, with the realization that on the dance floor - all are equal. A dream to further the dance music scene, with the belief that different people coming together can create and spread harmony.

Back in 1999, DJ Asad a.k.a Freeaatmah approached his friends at the Mahalaxmi Bal Sangh with the aim of making their Ganesh Visarjan procession special that year, so that more and more people can connect with the festival. He requested them to experiment with having people dance and celebrate to the beats and rhythms of electronic music. Before the procession started, DJ Freeaatmah played an electronic set at the Mahalaxmi Temple complex, sending the crowd into frenzy, and setting the mood for the procession. Needless to say, the procession was a hit and the crowd just loved the musical experience.

The next year, he took it one step further. A truck custom-fitted with a DJ console, speaker stacks and power amps accompanied the procession from Breach Candy, past Haji Ali and along the sea face till the Visarjan point at Eden Hall/Samudra Mahal. Within the first hour, over 500 people had joined in, dancing to the magical music, creating an atmosphere that had never been seen before.

The event continued over the next few years in a similar format with the crowd doubling every year. Dj Whosane!, decided to join forces with his long time friend Asad and take the music to a new level. Asad's friend Samir Saraiya experienced the event in 2002 and was simply overwhelmed with the concept. He decided to partner with Dj Asad with the aim to making it bigger and better the following year, while ensuring that the event remains a non-profit initiative. Samir who was working with a large multinational corporate at that time, brought in his Corporate advertisement agency Digitaldriftwood, as well as his PR agency, Perfect Relations, both of whom lent their services to the event at no cost. With a strong team, he was able to convince sponsors to come in, and get mileage from the event.

In 2003, Dance Ganesh went professional. A 20 feet trailer replaced the truck. The sound system was dramatically scaled up, and the city of Mumbai took notice of the event. In 2004, a 40 foot trailer was used as more celebrities, models, CEO's and page 3 folks joined in. Every subsequent year brought in new innovations across production, design, hospitality, security, media and entertainment.

The rest, as they say, is history! That dream is now a thriving reality. Dance Ganesh has become one of the signature event's of the city, where tens of thousands of people look forward to.

Music has always been the primary form of celebration and devotion through time immemorial. Every year, the DJ's Asad and DJ Whosane!, compose and mix tracks specially created for this event. The theme behind the compilations is that the music should not influence the mind but instead creates a silence within each individual, facilitating a positive connection with the universe. It should preserve the sanctity and purity of the event and the Ganesh festival.

The music combines the ancient Indian sounds and rhythms with modern electronic fusion music that transcend all artificial boundaries, unifying the crowd with its spirit. Dj Asad believes that dance is a collective expression of music, where the dancer disappears and only the dance remains.

The music is without popular Hindi film lyrics, and breaks away from today's over-commercialized Bollywood and pop genre. It cuts across all barriers of age, religion, caste, gender, language and socio-economic status. People are unified by the innate spirit of the music, which gives them the opportunity to collectively revel together on the streets of Mumbai. The event only happens once a year, but the experience lasts forever.

This year the event is on September 14, 2008. From 3 p.m. in the afternoon, there will be a lineup of DJ's who will play music at the Mahalaxmi temple compound including Dj Tarun Boombaba, Dj Ashwin - Jalebi Cartel, Dj Raoul - Designer Hippies, and Dj Ruskin Master. There will also be live percussions by Jonqui.

This year the cavalcade will be led by the Power Horse car (which chills the Power horse cans), followed by a makeup van (which acts as the mobile toilet for VIP's and celebrities). This will be followed by a mobile generator set that powers the entire cavalcade. This will be followed by two 40 foot trailers, the first which will host and exclusive dance floor as well as a non-alcoholic bar. The second will house the DJ Console which is mounted on top of the driver's cabin, along with a 80,000 Watt sound system, complete with power amplifiers, laser lights, and other electronic gizmos.

Attached to the second trailer, will be a mobile stage where there will be live performances by fire dancers. There will also be other live acts including stilt walkers, jugglers and fire eaters.

The starting point is the Mahalaxmi Temple compound, from where the procession winds its way out to Bhulabhai Desai rd. opposite Tirupati apts. – Heads towards Cadbury house, and then left towards Haji Ali and then heads towards Eden Hall (barrister Rajni Patel chowk). The procession will commence at 6:30 p.m.

This celebs expected to join this year's procession include Suchitra Pillai, Diandra Soares, Mahek Chahal, Madhu Sapre, Sheetal Mallar, Mugda Godse, Kanchi Kaul, Adam Bedi, DJ Suketu, Nisha Harale, Nikhil Chinappa, VJ Anoushka, Kunal Vijaykar, VJ Pia, Binal Trivedi, Rajeev Samant, Sapna Bhavnani, Tinu Vergese, Nicollette Bird, Brinda, Ravi Kishen, Delna Poonawalla, Dodo Bhujwala, and Bandana Tewari.

The sponsors and supporters of Dance Ganesh 2008 are IN.COM (Title Sponsors) and associate sponsors are Blender magazine, from Media Transasia India Ltd., Radio City, Foot Stompin Records, Voltas, Time Out, Perfect Relations, Dance Mela, Digital driftwood, WSA, Golden Ticket. The organizers wish to give a special thanks to the Mumbai Police for their tireless support, without whom this would not have been possible