MUMBAI: A three-day musical extravaganza featuring fourteen popular rock bands from across seven nations will perform at Purana Qila, New Delhi from February 20 to February 22, 2009. The musical fest is being held in association with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Ministry of External Affairs and is aimed to popularize Indian culture and tradition in SAARC region.

Organised by ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and NGO Seher founded by Sanjeev Bhargava, this is the second year of South Asian Bands Festival. While the festival showcases some of the biggest names in the Indian subcontinent, it also gives a great opportunity and exposure to some of the upcoming young bands.

Some of the performing bands this year are Aryan Band from Afghanistan, Miles from Bangladesh, Soul Sounds from Sri Lanka, Robin & The Revolution (Nepal), Trio (Maldives) and Who's Your Daddy (Bhutan). On being asked if bands are forthcoming, Bharagava said "India is a huge attraction for bands for them, they all are very forthcoming." Needless to say, there is no Pakistan based band performing at the festival due to the ongoing strains between India and Pakistan,

The Indian band line-up at the festival includes Vishal-Shekhar (Mumbai), Agnee Band (Pune), Shaair + Func (Mumbai), Swarathma (Bangalore), Skinny Alley (Kolkata) and Jasbir Jassi, Parikrama and Them Clones (Delhi). This is the festival's second year with a top-class line-up with a rare appearance of Vishal-Shekhar from Mumbai - and it promises to be a real treat for the music lovers for the capital.

ICCR Director General Pavan. K. Varma says, "It is with great pleasure that the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) announces the Second South Asian Bands Festival '09. This festival which had its first edition in Nov-Dec 2007 saw an immensely successful response from people across Delhi, especially the youth, and represented a new area of creative interaction. In 2009, the festival will feature young talent from across seven countries of South Asia, highlighting the fact that music knows no boundaries and can play a significant role in strengthening people to people contact. We are sure that the festival this year will be as much a success as it was last year."

Click here for programme schedule and the musicians profile

The concert starts at 5 p.m. onwards daily