In a first of its kind, a musical event will be organized with only women performers taking centre stage in the country. Nesco, India's largest exhibition center is fast becoming a hub for various social, cultural and entertainment events marks their second season of Paddy Fields, a folk and fusion music event with eight women singers from various parts of the country to perform on October 7 and 8 this year.
The second season salutes women performers and propels folklore into the limelight. With an exclusive line-up of India's top most women folk and fusion artists it creates a platform for the talented women story tellers in our country to take center stage. As an added and exciting feature this year we will feature specially curated songs including Khasi Blues, Bhojpuri, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Punjab. Meghalaya, Assam and Delhi.
The list of the singers includes names like Shubha Mudgal, Kalpana Patowary, Sona Mohapatra, Nooran Sisters, Susheela Raman, Tipriti Kharbangar, Sonam Kalra and Sunita Bhuyan.
The event focuses on massive revival of soul music and promises to take the genre of folk music to a new level by giving regional musicians and artists a larger platform. It also offers a heady mix of fusion giving the festival a modern-day context.
"I am really excited to perform at paddy felds this years. It is an honor to perform with the great list of women singers. Folk is mostly termed to be more played by the male and not females, so this will change the complete perspective with women performing folk music. I am really happy that a lot of importance is now given to the folk music and looking forward for the event," said Sunita Bhuyan, a Mumbai-based Assamese violinist.
"This event is a great platform for the known star singers in metro cities and folk singers to perform on the same platform. We have very talented folk singers in remote areas of the country and listening to them is a treat. I am happy that such an event is being initiated by Nesco in Mumbai," added Veteran singer Shubha Mudgal.
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To the drumbeat of folk and fusion music, Paddy Fields arrived in 2016 with the energy that cannot be forgotten and deserves to be recreated.
The singers-Colonial cousins, Salim Sulaiman, Gangadhar and Tulika and many more had set the paddy fields on fire in 2016, focusing on promoting the fusion and folk music around the globe. This exclusive festival has created a platform for talented artists across rural and urban India.
While the inaugural event of Paddy Field went on to carve its space in history as India's most popular folk and fusion music festival, this would be again for the first time in the history where eight of the top women folk and fusion performers take this unique genre of music to the next level .
The 2016 festival had brought together serious folk and fusion music lovers from all corners of Mumbai who recognized the event as one-of-its-kind. It left an indelible mark on the audience of over 3000 music lovers who we can safely refer to as Paddy Field loyalists. The orgnaniser are expecting the numbers to be twice of the last year.
"Women, over generations have been strong contributors to the tradition of folk music. They have been instrumental in bringing about social and cultural change and in doing so have also added to the richness of this genre. Added to this are their powerful voices that have enthralled music aficionadas. The new offering is a true representation of the nation's tradition and ethos. Paddy Fields salutes these talented women and brings them together on one platform this year. It aims to highlight folk and fusion music from various cultures across the nation, while celebrating the diversity of music and captures the spirit of artists hailing from different parts of the country," said Anupama Bhalla, VP Sales and Marketing at Nesco Ltd.
"We are delighted in bringing folk and fusion music to an even larger audience this year. Folk and fusion music is growing in popularity and Paddy Fields continues with its pioneering efforts in spurring this revolutionary music trend," added Dibakar Chatterjee, CEO of Nesco Ltd.
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