Guwahati International Music Festival to host top Southeast Asian artists

The fourth edition of Guwahati International Music Festival (GIMF), from February 28 to March 1, will feature some of the topmost artists from across Southeast Asia and beyond, putting the gateway city of Guwahati into Southeast Asia's music circuit.

The festival will showcase a line-up that brings together some of the most significant artists from the Asian circuit along with the leading stakeholders of the industry, making GIMF a global powerhouse in the music scene.

The festival will be preceded by a first-of-its-kind ‘Northeast India Music Conference’ which will be participated by industry leaders and which will greatly benefit musicians of the region on February 28, with the main festival slated for February 29 and March 1.

The fourth edition of this, which features some of India's legendary and top names like Lucky Ali, Benny Dayal and his band Funktuation, as well as Thailand based folk-fusion super group Asia7, is being touted as a major platform for budding musicians of the Northeast and will place Guwahati on the Asian music circuit.

Organized by Eastern Beats Music Society in collaboration with North Eastern Council, Government of India, the 4th GIMF Festival will witness performances by more than 500 artists from 6 countries and participation of delegates from more than 10 countries across Asia, giving a tremendous boost to people-to-people connectivity through arts as envisaged in India’s Act East Policy.

A brainchild of Northeast-based writer and cultural activist Aiyushman Dutta, the idea of GIMF was mooted way back in 2010 in order to provide a platform wherein musical maestros from across the globe can share stage and collaborate with indigenous music and cultural practitioners.

“We are all set to host the fourth edition of the GIMF after conducting auditions across the Northeast. This year’s edition will be the biggest so far. GIMF 2020 is set to bring together over 10,000 people and 500 participating performing arts professionals and enthusiasts,” said Aiyushman Dutta, founder of GIMF.

“Besides serving as a platform for interaction among musicians, music professionals, music lovers, music trade firms and music institutes, the festival was also organized to initiate cross-cultural dialogue among people and artistes of the region with those from others parts of the world, with special emphasis on creating new vistas with countries of Southeast Asia and Asia,” Dutta added.

Additionally, Northeast Indian Food Festival will also be held where ethnic stalls from all Northeastern States will be set up.

Earlier, the Eastern Beats Music Society organized auditions across the Northeast states as a part of their Pan-Asian music project ‘Rhythms and Aromas of Northeast India’.

Under the project, the society called for auditions from talented artists and musicians from the 8 states of Northeast India to be a part of a unique exercise which is going to culminate at the 4th Guwahati International Music Festival.