MUMBAI: Paddy Fields, the festival of folk and fusion, a first of its kind has come up with a musical event that will be organized with only women performers taking centre stage in the country. We at Radioandmusic.com reported about the same yesterday and now we get you some more details of the festival.

The second season of the festival to take place on 7-8 October this year salutes women performers and propels folklore into the limelight. With an exclusive lineup of India’s top most women folk and fusion artists it creates a platform for the talented women story tellers in our country to take centre stage. As an added and exciting feature this year we will feature specially curated songs including Khasi Blues, Bhojpuri, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Meghalaya, Assam and Delhi. The list of the singers includes names like Shubha Mudgal, Kalpana Patowary, Sona Mohapatra, Nooran Sisters, Susheela Raman, Tipriti Kharbangar, Sonam Kalra and Sunita Bhuyan.

The event focuses on the massive revival of soul music and promises to take the genre of folk music to a new level by giving regional musicians and artists a larger platform. It also offers a heady mix of fusion giving the festival a modern-day context.

Talking about the festival veteran singer Shubha Mudgal, who would be part of the festival said, “This event is a great platform for the known star singers in metro cities and folk singers to perform on the same platform. We have very talented folk singers in remote areas of the country and listening to them is a treat. I am happy that such an event is being initiated by Nesco in Mumbai.”

Paddy Fields initially started with the drumbeat of Folk and Fusion music with the energy that cannot be forgotten and deserves to be recreated. Ace singers, Colonial cousins, Salim Sulaiman, Gangadhar and Tulika and many more had set the paddy fields on fire in 2016, focusing on promoting the fusion and folk music around the globe. This exclusive festival has created a platform for talented artists across rural and urban India.

While the inaugural event of Paddy Field went on to carve its space in history as India’s most popular Folk and Fusion Music Festival, this would be again for the first time. 2016 festival had brought together serious Folk and Fusion music lovers from all corners of Mumbai who recognized the event as one-of-its-kind. It left an indelible mark on the audience of over 3000 music lovers who we can safely refer to as Paddy Field loyalists. The organisers are expecting the numbers to be twice of the last year.

NESCO ltd VP sales and marketing Anupama Bhalla said, “Women, over generations have been strong contributors to the tradition of folk music. They have been instrumental in bringing about social and cultural change and in doing so have also added to the richness of this genre. Behind this mega festival are their powerful voices that have enthralled music aficionados. The new offering is a true representation of the nation’s tradition and ethos. Paddy Fields salutes these talented women and brings them together on one platform this year. It aims to highlight folk and fusion music from various cultures across the nation, while celebrating the diversity of music and captures the spirit of artists hailing from different parts of the country

NESCO Ltd CEO Dibakar Chatterjee added, “We are delighted in bringing folk and fusion music to an even larger audience this year. Folk and fusion music is growing in popularity and Paddy Fields continues with its pioneering efforts in spurring this revolutionary music trend.”