Joining Pandit Chaurasia and Ghulam Ali are master sitar player Baluji Shrivastav and the Bollywood Brass Band, and other UK Asian artists.
LONDON: London will soon be ringing with the sounds of the Indian sub-continent. A major six-day cultural festival called East combining 400 events — in areas of performance, art, history, fashion and food — will start from March 1 and take place throughout the east end of London.
The main event of the festival is the unique double bill of Pandit Hairprasad Chaurasia, one of the world’s great flautists, and Ustad Ghulam Ali, the master of ghazal. The two greats from India and Pakistan will perform a jugalbandi together.
Organised by the Mayor of London’s office and other cultural organisations of the capital, the festival will be launched in an innovative manner at the magnificent St Paul’s Cathedral. For the first time in London’s history, 28 east London churches will ring out the famous children’s nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons to herald the start of East. Around 100 bell-ringers from all over the country will participate in the unique launch starting with the bells of St Paul’s and lasting two hours. Church bells will ring out progressively across east London.
“East London, with its rich past and present, has long been a real creative hotbed in London. This collaboration will offer Londoners a wonderful opportunity to sample and enjoy an unrivalled mix of cultural experiences in this unique part of the city,” said Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London. Livingstone has been a great advocate of multiculturalism and has created innovative ways of showcasing London’s large ethnic minorities.
Joining Pandit Chaurasia and Ghulam Ali are master sitar player Baluji Shrivastav and the Bollywood Brass Band, and other UK Asian artists. Along with the musical extravaganza are tours of the best art galleries of East London. The area is home to thousands of artists and over 140 galleries, making it Europe’s largest art quarter.
Experts will lead a special bus tour that will take people to the best galleries and provide an opportunity to meet the directors.
Other tours which take in the history, archaeology and even a treasure hunt have also been arranged. Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain’s oldest manufacturing company.
Established in 1570, it is famous for bells made at the foundry including the original Liberty Bell of the USA in 1752 and the legendary Big Ben (1858), which is still the largest bell ever to be cast at Whitechapel weighing over an extraordinary 13.5 tonnes.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}