This three-day festival launched in 2010 celebrates Baul music, which has been resonating across the horizons of Bengal and beyond for several centuries. There are about 2,500 Baul musicians in different districts of West Bengal, especially Nadia, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bardhaman and Bankura. The Baul Fakiri Utsav sees 150 to 200 of them gathering to celebrate their art from dawn to dusk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the day time, Bauls and Fakirs meet and perform informally at akhras (intimate spaces). During the evening, some of the leading exponents of the folk music form present stage performances. These include Sadhan Das Bairagya, Bhajan Das Bairagya, Golam Fakir, Babu Fakir, Arman Fakir, Rina Das Baul, Chhote Golam and Sadhu Das Baul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival concludes with a \u2018milan\u2019, a ritual that marks the festival’s end where the union between the individual soul and the universal soul is celebrated through the allegory of Radha and Krishna. In the milan, literary \u201cunion\u201d, the musicians sing in unison and embrace each other after the performance. In 2022, around 240 bauls from different districts like Nadia, Murshidabad, Bankura, Bardhaman (Purba and Paschim) and Birbhum in West Bengal participated and enchanted the audience with their soulful music in the festival. Russian folk music band Otava Yo also performed in the 2022 edition of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The upcoming edition of the Baul Fakiri Utsav will be held between 25 and 27 Oct 2024 at Gorbhanga village in Nadia district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n