3-day Sur Jahan festival to be inaugurated on February 1

Kolkata: Sur Jahan, a three-day world peace music festival will be inaugurated at Mohar Kunj on February 1.

The festival has been organised by Banglanatak dot com. Music for all and music for peace is the motto of the festival. The festival is non ticketed and open to all. Artistes from Hungary, Spain, Cyprus, Egypt, Cape Verde and Germany will take part in the festival.

There will be workshop on the concept of international music and peace in the morning and folk performances will be held in the evening.

Mawlawiyah, a group of Egyptian folk artistes will perform on February 2. The group was set up by singer Amer Eltony to safeguard Egypt's Mevlevi heritage. The group has enthralled the audience across the world and had performed in Sur Jahan then known as Sufi Sutra in 2011.

Folk artistes from Bengal will take part in the festival. A band led by Debaleena Bhowmick will present different genres of folk music that is going to take the audience through the traditional music stream of Bengal. Bauls of Bengal will also take part in the three-day festival.

There will be Chhau dance and Raibenshe dance along with Jhumur and Baul songs. Bhawaiya song and Dhimat dance will be presented at the festival. Bhatiyali songs and Newar dance will be performed by the artistes. The artistes will come from both the South and North Bengal.

There will be stalls on handicrafts to showcase various products. It should be mentioned that there are around 2 lakh folk artistes in the state who have received monthly stipend.

Moreover, to assist them financially, the artistes are invited

to perform at fairs and other functions organised by the state government.