Registration opens for Bengal Sanskriti Utsab

Bengal Foundation has been doing some momentous work for the prosperity of our culture for 27 years now, and though most general people of the country know them for the Bengal Classical Music Festival, they have been working in all forms of arts. Now, the organisation is poised to break another barrier – by organising a massive-scale festival of culture outside the capital.

The 'Manobik Sadhonay Bengal Sangskriti Utsab – Sylhet 2017' is set to begin on February 22 at the AMA Muhith Sports Complex in Sylhet, and will bring together top artistes of the country (along with some of the biggest stars of Bangla music and literature from India) for a 10-day extravaganza of music, dance, fine art, literature, films, theatre, crafts and architecture. The festival is dedicated to the memory of Gyantapas Professor Abdur Razzaq. 

Bengal Foundation made the disclosure in a press conference at a city hotel yesterday, along with the announcement that registration (which is free, as is the norm with Bengal Foundation events) is now open. 

Bengal Foundation Chair Abul Khair, its advisor AK Momen, Dhaka Bank CEO and Managing Director Syed Mahbubur Rahman and Channel i managing director Faridur Reza Sagor spoke at the press conference, which was anchored by Bengal Foundation DG Luva Nahid Choudhury. Following the press conference, a dance performance highlighting one of the representative art forms of the Sylhet region – Manipuri dance – was presented by dancers of Dhriti Nartanalay, led by Warda Rihab.  

Speakers at the press conference.

The festival will have about 425 artistes of all kinds directly participating, including about 50 from India. Big names include Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya, Khairul Anam Shakil, Adity Mohsin, Chandana Mazumdar, Joler Gaan, Kuddus Boyati from Bangladesh, and singers Haimanti Shukla, Srikanta Acharya, Monomoy Bhattacharya, Jayati Chakravarty and Parvathy Baul. An art camp will also be held during the festival where noted artists Rafiqun Nabi, Monirul Islam, Shahid Kabir, Rokeya Sultana, Jamal Ahmed, Shishir Bhattacharya and Tayeba Begum Lipi will participate. A three-day literary festival will be held from February 24-26, where Hasan Azizul Haque, Imdadul Haque Milon, Serajul Islam Chowdhury, Dr. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Shamsuzzaman Khan, Anisul Hoque and others will participate, along with eminent writer Samaresh Majumdar, theatre actor-director Shaoli Mitra and other writers, columnists and poets from India, and two authors from Nepal will take part. 

Film screenings will also be a part of the festival, where “Meghmallar”, “Television”, “Anil Bagchi'r Ekdin”, “Runway”, “Titas Ekti Nodi'r Naam” “Guerilla” and other critically-acclaimed films will be screened. Four theatre plays – “Mohajoner Nao”, “Amena Sundori”, “Konjus” and “Kohe Birangona” will also be staged at the festival. Other attractions include crafts from 15 districts, traditional sweets and other delicacies from various regions, a book fair, a digital display on Sylhet's heritage and culture, an architectural exhibition, a musical instrument exhibition and more. 

The various festival spaces are named after some of the most important cultural luminaries of Sylhet –Hason Raja Stage, Shah Abdul Karim Chattar, Syed Mujtaba Ali Stage, Gurusaday Dutta Chattar, Radharaman Dutta Bedi and Kushiara Colonnade (after the River Kushiara). 

Anyone can join the festival free of cost by registering online – on bengalculturalfest.com, or via SMS – by sending “Bengal” to 6969. Organisers will also set up registration booths at various educational institutes for students, and there will be arrangements for on-site registration. 

Index Group is presenting the festival, with assistance from Dhaka Bank. Channel i is the broadcast partner for the event, while Kali O Kalam is the media partner, hospitality partner Paturi, and other partners are Bengal Digital and Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay. Blues Communications is managing the event.