3-day Sur Jahan kicks off at Mohor Kunja

Kolkata: Sur Jahan, a three-day world peace music festival, kicked off at Mohor Kunja on Friday.

While the festival has been organised by Banglanatak dot com, artistes from Hungary, Spain, Cyprus, Egypt, Cape Verde and Germany are also participating in the event. Folk artistes from Bengal are also taking part in it.

There will be a workshop on the concept of international music and peace, along with folk performances. There will be no entry fee for the musical performances or crafts fair. This apart, stalls on handicrafts will showcase various products.

Music teams from 32 countries and 10 states across the country have been participating in the event since its inception in 2011. This year, five international bands are performing at the festival, which has day-time cultural exchange workshops and evening concerts.

It might be mentioned that Sur Jahan has been termed as a 'people's festival' by the media worldwide and has evolved as a headliner festival in both Kolkata and Goa. This year, for the first time, the festival will also travel to Jaipur, Rajasthan.

During the three-day festival, nearly 60 rural traditional artistes from Bengal and 10 from rural Western Rajasthan representing four western districts will be highlighting their community efforts on pottery, weaving, leather and stitch-work.

Meanwhile, the event will be held in Goa from February 6 to 8. Banglanatak dot com is an 18-year-old social enterprise with headquarters at Kolkata, in Consultative Status with UNESCO ICH and UN ECOSOC and a National partner to UNESCO in India.