25th anniversary of the International Folk Music Conference in New York

The 25th anniversary of the 'International Folk Music Conference' was held on Saturday at the Juice Center in Jackson Heights, New York City, with the slogan of nurturing and developing the music that touches the hearts of North Bengal and rural Bengal even abroad, and continuing the traditional flow of Bengali culture.  

This festival, titled 'Bhaber Gaan', courtesy of the Bari Group, is dedicated to the souls of popular folk singers Bijoy Sarkar and Bari Siddiqui.  

The festival was inaugurated by Dr. Hamiduzzaman, the festival convener, in the presence of expatriates of different ages, including Asef Bari Tutul and Munmun Hasina Bari, founders of the Bari Group. The festival was also attended by the chief guest, Kazi Azam, the guest of honor, Fahad Solaiman, special guests Dr. Sabita Das, Mina Islam, Saleh Ahmed Manik, poet Saleha, and Shakti D. Gupta. 

The chief coordinator of the festival, Abu Taleb Chowdhury Chandu, and the coordinator, Mohar Khan, welcomed the guests. The member-secretary of the festival, Nur Islam Barshan, made a heartfelt appeal to keep the culture of Bangladesh alive in the hearts of the multi-ethnic society in the days to come. 

In addition to rewarding the distinguished people who have been organizing and sponsoring this festival in exile and continuously working to nurture and develop folk music for the past 24 years, popular artists participated in 'Bhaber Gaan'. Among them were Chandra Roy, Sabita Das, Imdadul Haque, Mohar Khan, Karim Howlader, Zohra Alim Nupur, Dr. Nargis Rahman, Shaheen, Sultana Khanam, Ankita Biswas, and Priyanti Pal.