Rock bands from 9 countries at South Asian Bands Festival

, Nov 26: Popular rock bands from across nine countries in South Asia are set to come on a common stage at the seventh edition of the South Asian Bands Festival (SABF) at the Purana Quila here.

The 3-day music festival has lined up 14 popular rock bands, along with participation of Korea, an observer country this year, beginning November 29. The event is presented by External Affairs Ministry, ICCR and the NGO Seher.

Students' band "What's In The Name" who won rock band competition at IIT Mumbai has been pegged to be one of the highlights of the festival by organisers. "LRB" from Bangladesh whose lead Ayub Bachchu is considered to be one of the pioneers of rock music in Bangladesh is being featured.

"Strings" from Pakistan and the "Raghu Dixit Project" from India too are the other acts in the line up. Seema Dahiya, project manager, SABF 2013 says, "Begun in the year 2007, the festival has become one of Delhi's most eagerly awaited cultural extravaganzas and year after year people of all ages look forward to it. The highlight this year is the guest country band 'Biuret' from Korea."

The Korean band a winner at Sutasi, Asian American Idol programme, began in the year 2002 and has since released two albums and performed at the Incheon Pentapot Rock Festival and Ssamzi Rock Festival in Korea. They have performed in the UK, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and China.

Among the members of the band are Hye-won Moon (vocals) and Gyo-won Lee (Guitar) and they plan to release their third album in 2014. Other participating bands include Barefaced Liar (Delhi), ZnG (Bhutan), Circus (Delhi), Biuret (Korea), Stigmata (Sri Lanka), Eman's Conspiracy (Maldives), Papon And The East Indian Company (Mumbai), Pardis (Afghanistan), Susmit Sen Chronicles (Delhi) and Albatross (Nepal). The entry to the festival is free.

PTI