photo by Al-Emrun Garjon
For music-enthusiasts, the five day long Music Festival 2007 at the Bashundhara city was tantamount to history in the making when they witnessed, for the first time ever, 120 performers take part in one single event. Not only were they treated to the songs, albums of all these artists were launched through this event and was put up for sale. Several hundred people thronged level-7 of Bashundhara City from September 6 to 10 for the event 
which was organised by Showbiz Entertainment, the first of its kind in Bangladesh. It turned out to be a shrine for music-lovers all across the country. ‘The core motive of this festival was to try and bring all those involved in music including artists, record companies and people in the music arena together under one roof,’ says Mehdi Hassan of Showbiz Entertainment. Inspired by the South Park Music Festival, the festival was also the celebration of Showbiz Entertainment’s seven year anniversary. The event featured an astounding 120 artists including some
which was organised by Showbiz Entertainment, the first of its kind in Bangladesh. It turned out to be a shrine for music-lovers all across the country. ‘The core motive of this festival was to try and bring all those involved in music including artists, record companies and people in the music arena together under one roof,’ says Mehdi Hassan of Showbiz Entertainment. Inspired by the South Park Music Festival, the festival was also the celebration of Showbiz Entertainment’s seven year anniversary. The event featured an astounding 120 artists including someof the biggest names in the music industry like Bappa Majumder, Habib Wahid, Ornob, Mehrin, Kumar Biswajit, Mila, Kaniz Shuborna and previous Close Up-1 contestants and winners along with the bands, Cryptic Fate, Artcell, Yaatri, Renaissance, Abida & Pentagon, Nemesis. ‘The festival was not just about the performances but also an initiative to promote music in Bangladesh and expose more people to local music,’ mentions Mehdi. ‘We have organised several one day concerts at home and abroad but had never done anything this big.’ During its 5-day run, ‘Jhalmuri-1 & 2’, two mixed albums were launched. Both the albums featured tracks by several renowned music artists. The floor was surrounded by small stalls featuring thriving music companies like G series, Ektaar Music as well as popular radio stations and television channels. While music albums could be purchased from the record company stalls, the festival also sported a celebrity corner where celebrities could sit and enjoy music. This allured more people to visit the festival in an attempt to see their favourite stars. Celebrities were not just restricted to music artists but came from all media backgrounds such as television and movies to show their support in helping the promotion of music. The festival continued from 10am till 7pm everyday during the five days. While people of all age groups continued to arrive throughout the days, Mehdi adds, ‘The maximum of the visitors were teenagers or young adults.’ Organising such an enormous event and especially to be able to schedule performances for all the artists is palpably challenging. However, Mehdi mentions that the artists have been very co-operative and extremely enthusiastic about this event and its outcome. Above all, the event was entirely non-commercial. ‘We did not charge any money for the stalls and have also had to bear a considerable amount of loss. Yet we decided to go along with this project because we believe it would make a difference in the music scene of Bangladesh today,’ he says. The music artists who performed at the festival did so voluntarily without any payment from the organiser, reflecting their keenness towards promoting music and creating a better atmosphere for future music artists and music-lovers. Events like this should be prevalent in all media sectors to help our entertainment industry to go one step forward, expressed organisers.
