The Dhaka World Music Festival also referred to as Dhaka World Music Fest is an international music festival held in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, featuring national and international musicians from different genres. The festival covers an extensive scope of performances from local folk and traditional music genres to world fusion and contemporary world music across the globe. The festival is perceived to be a cardinal platform in Bangladesh to witness the true fusion in the form of world music.

Making

Inspired by the

socio-political Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

impact of music through the

Concert for Bangladesh The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt)Harry, p. 135. was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were he ...

, Runi Khan, the founder of Culturepot Global, a UK based

cross-cultural Cross-cultural may refer to *cross-cultural studies, a comparative tendency in various fields of cultural analysis *cross-cultural communication, a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate *any of vari ...

event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

organization, intended to stage a major event that would remark the 40th anniversary of that historic concert. Perceiving her country's absence in the global cultural scene, she also had a long cherished desire to fetch world focus on the Bangladeshi music where the Bangladeshi artistes can accentuate the rich culture and heritage of Bangladesh. Impressed by the concept of Runi, Farhan Quddus, head of Excalibur Entertainment, Bangladesh, who was also planning to hold an annual world music programme, joined her. Around the same time, the Bangladesh telecommunication giant,

Grameenphone Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, with 83.02 million subscribers (as of January 2022). It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation. Telen ...

was looking for events that would emphasize the celebration of

International Mother Language Day International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally r ...

on February 21. Runi's idea of arranging a festival where musicians from all over the world would carry out their traditional music in their mother tongue emerged persuasive for the company. The idea befitted further convincing as the festival would engender Dhaka as a global cultural city.

Kishon Khan Kishon Khan ( bn, কীশোন খান; born 1 August 1970) is a Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a ...

, a London-based

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, also band leader of Lokkhi Terra was instrumental in putting together the festival content as

Music Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

. His long established relationship with other internationally acclaimed musicians allowed him to draw in some of the best exponents of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

genres of music. Another British Bangladeshi musician, Idris Rahman, also played an important role to interact with some world-reputed bands and musicians to perform at the event. After cracking a number of bureaucratic and other obstacles, the event finally eventuated on 4–5 February 2011.

Inaugural edition in 2011

The inaugural edition of the festival took place in 2011 at Sultana Kamal Mohila Krira Complex, in

Dhanmondi Dhanmondi ( bn, ধানমন্ডি) is a residential area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, known for its central location, cultural vibrancy and being home to the country's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The origins of Dhanmondi can be traced back to t ...

. It was jointly organized by Culturepot Global UK, Jatrik Travels, Excalibur Entertainment and Symbiance Partners and sponsored by Grameenphone. International music artistes like

Tunde Jegede Tunde Jegede (born 28 January 1972) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist in contemporary classical, African and pop music, who is of Nigerian descent and born in England and as a child travelled to Africa to learn the art of the kora. He is ...

Dele Sosimi Bamidele Olatunbosun Sosimi (born 22 February 1963) known as Dele Sosimi, is a Nigerian-British musician. Biography Sosimi was born in Hackney, London, England. His career began when he joined Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's Egypt 80 (1979–86). Sosimi ...

Julia Biel Julia Biel is a British jazz singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Early life Biel was born in London on 22 February 1976. She was brought up in Sutton, then studied French and German at the University of Oxford. There, she was in a ban ...

and others along with local stars like Ajob, Porobashi, Band Lalon, Shah Jahan Munshi, Rob Fakir and others performed in this mega event. The Festival ended with a grand finale where all eight bands came together on the stage. The event proved to be huge success with being observed ardently by the passionate music lovers in Bangladesh.

References

{{Reflist World music festivals Cultural festivals in Dhaka Music festivals in Bangladesh