San Diego has numerous events celebrating various aspects of world music each year, from Jamaican sounds to Irish dances, but none rivals a feast for the senses like the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego’s Music and Dance Festival, taking place at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre from April 14 to 17. Now in its fourth year, the event is a natural extension of the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego, mixing the sounds of India with traditional dance and regional vegetarian cuisine. Board member Divya Devaguptapu said the mission of the nonprofit academy is to promote Indian classical music and dance. “In order to achieve that,” she said, “we have monthly programs, but we also wanted to have a large-scale festival, where we could attract artists from all over to attend.” The festival includes 13 events spread out over four days, with 58 internationally renowned artists performing, including Chitravina player Ravi Kiran, violin duo Ganesh & Kumaresh and dancer Lavanya Ananth. One of the festival’s highlights will be a special Saturday evening Felicitation ceremony honoring four Indian music legends, including Carnatic music virtuosos M. Balamuralikrishna, N. Ramani and R.K. Srikantan. The ceremony will also double as a 91st birthday party for sitarist Ravi Shankar. Now an Encinitas resident, Shankar will make a rare personal appearance. “He’s a musical icon, a living legend,” she said. “It’s solely because of him, I would say, that Indian music has been popularized in the West. His name is synonymous with Indian music.” While Shankar is the best known name to American concert goers, Devaguptapu notes all four honorees are considered musical icons in India. “They are great in their own right, but unfortunately they are not as visible to the West, because they haven’t been popularized here (like Shankar).” With so many artists flying in for a single weekend, Devaguptapu said coordinating efforts can be a logistical nightmare. To that end, the festival works in tandem with an East Coast event, Cleveland’s Thyagaraja Festival, making travel more cost effective. “It’s really the only [gathering] of its kind on the West Coast, so we get people from all over California,” she said. She’s particularly proud of the atmosphere the concerts create. “It’s wonderful for the Indian community to be able to gather in one place and listen to good music,” she said. “It’s really festive, but it’s not just the sounds. The whole experience of the festival itself, like being in the presence of all these great artists and being able to interact with them, is great. ” Devaguptapu said she is happy with the public response to the festivals so far, though she wouldn’t mind seeing it expand to encompass more concerts and bigger crowds. “We want to try to make it as big as we can,” Devaguptapu said. “But right now, we really don’t have a goal to, say, make it as big as [1960s music festival] ‘Monterey Pop.’ It’s such an ancient and traditional form of music that we would love to share with the whole world.” Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego fourth annual Music and Dance Festival: April 14-17, at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Dr. All ages. www.indianfinearts.org