Festival – Surjahan

About

World peace music festival commemorating cultural plurality through peace, harmony and truth. A platform for collaborations between rural traditional art and contemporary forms, enriching the connect leading to a wider, more vibrant understanding of culture and its diversity.
Celebrate world music. Celebrate peace. Celebrate diversity. Sur Jahan 2025 is already announced, starting with Kolkata on January 31, 2024 – Feb 2, 2025.

2023

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2022

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2021

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2020

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2019

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Sur Jahan 2021 Announcement

Concert 2019

Sur Jahan, earlier known Sufi Sutra, is a World Peace Music Festival conceptualized by banglanatak dot com. The mantra of the event is ‘Music for Peace, Music for All’. Celebrating cultural diversity, artists from all across the world and different parts of India participate and create magic on stage. A three-day carnival, with day-time cultural exchange workshops, craft stalls and concerts, it is gained popularity as ‘people’s festival and peace concert’ by media worldwide. Beginning on a February weekend in Kolkata, it continues its journey to different cities of India; this music festival has no entry fee and is open to all.

Concert 2023

Sur Jahan 2023 was held at Golf Green Central Park on 3-5 Feb by banglanatak dot com in collaboration with Golf Green Central Committee. Being a World Peace Music Festival, Sur Jahan upheld the motto of “Music for all; Music for Peace” and successfully celebrated global cultural diversity through music.

In Sur Jahan, along with presentations of world music, folk musical instruments were also played and showcased. Madagan, the folk music band from the North of Ireland presented their fusion music, which is a classic blend of traditional and contemporary English and Irish musical styles. Their music was accompanied by folk musical instruments, Uilleann Pipes (UNESCO recognised intangible asset) and Concertina, a free reed musical instrument. Mawlaiyah of Egypt captivated the audience with their dervish music and dance led by Amer Eltony and accompanied by their swirling dervish dance & traditional musical instrument like Qanun.

Leelabali, led by Saira Banu, showcased a colourful performance of traditional muslim wedding songs and dance which is only practised in the border region of Nadia Murshidabad. Qawwals of Jalangi, led by Chhote Golam, performed Bangla Qawwali, a variant of Baul Fakiri music, a musical genre revived by the Qawwals of Nadia and Murshidabad. Mirs of Rajasthan, performed at this festival in 2011 and returned this year. Mirs, residing in the western part of Rajasthan, presented their Sufi and Qawwali songs in Saraiki language. Rangamatir Baul led by Rina Das Baul from Birbhum’s Santiniketan, a renowned music group who performed in last year’s WOMEX, enchanted the audience with their Baul music and that was the inaugural performance in Sur Jahan 2023. The festival also presented Darbari Jhumur by Rarh Darbar led by Arpita Chakroborty and Bengal’s folk music by Folks of Bengal, an ensemble of urban folk musicians residing in Kolkata. The festival concluded with the Grand Finale, a musical collaboration where all the music bands and teams participated and showcased a musical presentation transcending the barriers of language and boundaries.

The festival held daytime workshops by Madagan and Mawlaiyah on the second and the final day of the festival. During the workshop, the international teams explained the origin and purpose of the music, coupled with a detailed description of the instruments that they play. The audience had a one to one interaction with the artists and questioned them on the technicalities of their music and instruments. During the workshop the Int'l bands did a musical collaboration with the Folk artists of Bengal to showcase the syncing of different musical genres.

Performance

Concert 2022

We organized the second edition of Folk Safar between 18th and 20th February at Mohar Kunj. Supported by the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal, this 3-day power-packed journey celebrated rural art and cultural tourism. Other than handmade crafts and short daytime performances in the fest, the main stage lit up with a thoughtful curated show as part of the inauguration with 50 performing arts and artists from the hills to the delta. Audiences were captivated through all three days with delightful musical presentations from the Bauls of Bengal, and Folks of Bengal on consecutive days. Widening the cultural spectrum, the festival came to a close with a very special theatre performance – Bhanusundarir Pala, an experimental musical drama set in the shadow of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The festival also had a prominent social media presence and therefore reached out to thousands both in- and off-site. Folk Safar enabled visitors to learn and explore significant rural cultural destinations.

Concert 2021

Every year the music lovers of Kolkata eagerly await the Sur Jahan an international music festival. This year due to the pandemic, international travel restraints we decided to bring together the two rich cultural flavors of our nation-West Bengal and Rajasthan. Folk Safar, 2021 took the audience on a musical journey from the sand dunes of western India to the delta of eastern India. The festival was an amalgamation of music, culture and diversity. It was a 3-day celebration of folk music bringing about inclusivity. The 3-day festival from 12th February to 14th February was witness to euphonious tunes together with dazzling performances. The event had an interesting line-up with Kalbelia- exploring folk melodies with serpentine moves from Rajasthan; Fakiri Qawwali–celebrating togetherness and harmony, folk instrumental collaboration between artists of Bengal and Rajasthan, Padmashree Anwar Khan with his group Divana, Bhatiyali- the boatmen’s song by Sourav Moni and the Langas- rustic music from the western part of Rajasthan. The festival showcased traditional handicrafts from different corners of Bengal like Patachitra, Dokra, Dhokra, Kantha, Shola, Sabai and folk performances like Chau, Jhumur, Baul, Raibenshe, Domni etc creating a platform for people with interest in arts and culture to experience it.

Concert 2020

A decade of World Peace Music Festival Sur Jahan, celebrating cultural diversity and pluralism! The festival is a harbinger of music, harmony and togetherness. What the celebration has held together for the past years is an assemblage of World Music bands and folk artists of India, and the year 2020 will be no exception. The 3-day festival from 31st January 2020 to 2nd February is here to witness euphonious tunes together with scintillating performances. The event has a very interesting line-up with Dalinda - exploring Hungarian folk melodies; Radiant Arcadia – all women band from Denmark, Godfather of Nordic music 'Ale Moller', South Korean band Coreyah and the legendary singer Danyèl Waro from the Reunion island. The festival continues to showcase traditional handicraft and folk performances creating a true music carnival in the city of Kolkata, where global culture matters! After Kolkata, the festival travels to Goa, the gateway of India and will be held on Feb 5-7. This is the first time, Sur Jahan also travels to the Heritage city - Jaipur and to be held on Feb 8-10.