Sawai Gandharva festival to be held from 7th December

Music lovers have much to look forward to this year with the renowned Sawai Gandharva music festival set to span over five days for the first time in its 59-year-old history. The festival, organised by the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, will be held between December 7 and 11 at the New English School, Raman Baug grounds.

The 59th edition of the festival would be dedicated to Kirana Gharana maestro late Pt Bhimsen Joshi, who started the festival in the memory of his guru Sawai Gandharva. It will have participation of veteran artistes from the world of Indian classical music. The programme timings of each day would be different.

Timings and information about the ticket sale as well as the participating artistes would soon be declared by the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal.

Previously, the festival was spread over four days comprising five sessions including four sessions in the evening and a morning session on the concluding day. However, this year the morning session on the concluding day has been cancelled and instead one more day has been added.

The number of days of the festival had earlier been increased in the year 2005 from three days to four. The 10 pm deadline on the use of loudspeakers was one of the main reasons why the festival days were increased. This was done mainly to compensate for the curtailed evenings. The organisers were also forced to convert the all-night festival into an afternoon format.