A Three-day Festival of Music and Arts on Environment
(May 1–3, 2016)
Venue – Konsang Lampak, Phayeng
‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’ (A song by Pete Seeger), a first of its kind in Manipur, is a three-day festival of music and arts inspired by the music and environmental activism of the late American folk singer Pete Seeger who passed away in January 2014. The aim of the festival is to respect, honour and protect our environment by highlighting environmental issues and spreading awareness to the people of Manipur.
3rd May will be Pete Seeger’s 97th birth anniversary and we wish to commemorate the day by carrying out activities he held close to his heart and fundamental to protection and preservation of our environment. Starting from May Day, two days ahead of the festival, there will be tree plantation drives in various places of Imphal and Phayeng. The event will start at 9 am with painting competition for school students, performances, photo exhibition by individual photographers and art fair that consists of art installation work, painting exhibition, etc.
Indian singer/songwriter Susmit Bose, who has been a friend of Late Pete Seeger, will spearhead the musical evening at the venue. Susmit Bose is known for his songs dealing with social issues, human rights, global peace and non-violence. He has been making music since the 1970s and has also been making documentaries and films on socio-cultural aspects of India.
The festival will not only provide a platform to the youth of Manipur to express themselves through various forms of art but also give an opportunity to infuse a sense of environmental awareness in the hearts and minds of the people who will be gathered there. The neighbouring khuls (villages) will also witness the convergence of music, arts and aesthetical values of the people and the need to stay close to nature. This community bonding is the need of the hour and pertinent for any activity to be taken up on a larger scale for the protection of our environment.
Pete Seeger was not only a musician but a visionary and had initiated a number of environmental projects infused with his songs like conserving a lake at Beacon township, planting trees and creating a space for children and people to take and have a moment with environment.
First and second edition of the festival took place at Chingnungkok, Lamlai in 2014 and Andro Santhei Park in 2015, respectively. Crowd funding was the major source for organising the events in the past two years which put tremendous pressure on the organisers to continue the event on an annual basis.
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