Folk music fest begins

The army stadium in the capital has long served more as a concert venue than a sports arena, but the sights at the venue on the opening night of the three-day Dhaka International Folk Festival -- presented by Meril -- were extraordinary yesterday.

Even at midnight, tens of thousands filled the arena with buoyant energy, as folk musicians from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan gave enthralling performances one after another. 

Pallavi Dance Centre, led by noted dancer-choreographer Minu Haque, opened the festival, presenting various genres of folk dance originating from different regions of the country.

 Farida Parveen, one of the most noted exponents of Lalon songs, came on stage next. With an ensemble dressed in all whites, she sang popular Lalon songs to rapturous applause.

The formal inauguration featured Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Managing Director of Maasranga TV and Square Group Anjan Chowdhury and eminent singer Ferdausi Rahman.

“Square Group, with their title sponsorship of the Bengal Classical Music Festival [due to begin later this month] and now organising this festival, is contributing to the country's cultural arena,” Anjan Chowdhury said.

AMA Muhith, before formally inaugurating the festival, said, “Bangladesh can be proud of its love for music,” and thanked the organisers.

Chandana Majumdar and Kiran Chandra Roy took stage next, presenting songs from Lalon, Shah Abdul Karim, and even a folksy rendition of Rudra Muhammad Shahidullah's “Bhalo Achi Bhalo Theko”.

Arko Mukherjee Collective took the festival by storm, performing a blend of folk songs in Bangla and various regions from India, incorporating elements from Middle-Eastern and European gypsy styles. Along with Styaki Banerjee and his band Fiddlers Green, he got the audience to dance and groove.

Eminent Lalon exponents Shafi Mondal and Rob Fakir performed next.

Revered Pakistani Sufi exponent Saieen Zahoor and Indian singer, composer Papon also enthralled the audience with their performances. The packed stadium showed no signs of sleep or fatigue.