MUMBAI: A galaxy of the country’s top ghazal artists- Anup jalota, Talat Aziz, Ahmed Hussain, Kavita Seth, Runa and Neha Rizvi, Sudeep Banerji, Bhupinder Singh along with wife Mitali, Anita Singhvi along with ghazal icon Pankaj Udhas will serenade fans at the 12th ‘Khazana Festival of Ghazals’ to held on 26-27 July at Mumbai’s Trident hotel.

The concert will be held in support of Cancer Patients AID Association (CPAA) and the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust (PATUT) with proceeds for rehabilitation of patients suffering from cancer and thalassemia. Last year’s Khazana raised Rs 45 lakhs.

Apart from aficionados who can afford the donor cards of Rs 5,000 per day (available at Rhythm House only), the concert will be streamed live on the official Facebook page of Hungama.com and its affiliates. Indian classical music channel InSync will also air the show.

Partnering the Khazana initiative from the corporate world are Union Bank of India, Oberoi Hotels among others.

Announcing the date and venue PATUT president and ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas said that tickets for the first day’s show had been sold out even before a formal announcement or advertisement.

“My memory of the first Khazana is about how nervous we were about our ability to raise funds and on its 12th year we are selling out the event- people wait for July for the festival- that’s how Khazana has evolved and how very much alive Ghazal is,” he said.

The festival will also be dedicated to the late Padma Bhushan  Begum Akthar (7 October, 1914–30 October 1974)  who was called ‘Mallika-e-Ghazal’ or Queen of Ghazals. The singers will jointly perform a tribute song in her honour at the festival.