These pro-show nights are highly anticipated by both internal and external participants and as such feature upcoming or established performers.

From the humble beginnings of upcoming bands such as Effekt Krew, an acrobatics group from Romania (2002), Moksh, a Thane based Marathi rock band(2004) Riviera has gone on to attract the likes of music directing duo Vishal-Shekhar, Saleem, and Shankar Mahadevan(2009), with most recently Benny Dayal(2015), Vasundhara Das(2015), Sunidhi Chauhan(2016), Parikrama and DJ Lloyd all making appearances at the 2016 iteration of Riviera.

These are events like What's The Good Word, Creative Writing, Crossword, Ad-Zap, JAM, Dumb Charades, Block And Tackle, Shipwreck, The Sound Of Silence, Spin-A-Yarn, Yes-No-Maybe, Potpourri, Poetry and Debates.

The informal events VIT University has seen in the past are Student of the year,Request Stalls, Arm Wrestling, Mister And Miss Riviera, Cluedo, Silichrome, Junkyard Genius, Soap Up, Libaas, Face Painting, Salad Dressing, Lakshya, Urban Warfare, Monarchy Salsa, Street Photography, Tattoo Making Puppetry And Ventriloquism, Sand Sculptures, Thumb Graffiti, Frisk Factor And Human Foosball.

Riviera also hosts various games organized by students Like Darts, 9 Pins, Test Your Strength, Shaving The Balloon, Smashing TT Ball, Hoopla and Balancing Rod.

[13] Apart from these VIT University has seen a growing trend in video gaming tournaments like Need For Speed, DOTA, Counter Strike, FIFA, Age Of Empires etc.

A premier event at the festival, VITMUN, a model united nations conference, has also helped highlight social issues and as such has partnered up with UN organizations, with the 2016 iteration teaming up with UN Women for the He for She campaign.

The festival's 2011 edition also earned a place in the Guinness Book Of World Records for the feat - 'Most number of people arm wrestling'.

The organisers of the fest use social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook to publicise and also share event-related information.

They have also utilized the services of the radio station 'Radio Mirchi' and the daily newspaper 'The Deccan Chronicle' and The Hindu in recent years.