Baul Fakiri Utsav

Baul music has been heard throughout Bengal and beyond for more than a decade, and this three-day event began in 2010 to honour it. Nadia, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bardhaman, and Bankura are just few of the areas in West Bengal that are home to the state’s estimated 2,500 Baul musicians. There are usually between 150 and 200 of them during the Baul Fakiri Utsav, which lasts all day.

Throughout the day, akhras serve as a gathering place for casual performances by both Bauls and Fakirs (intimate spaces). Evenings feature stage performances by some of the genre’s most renowned practitioners. Golam Fakir, Babu Fakir, Arman Fakir, Rina Das Baul, Chhote Golam, and Sadhu Das Baul are among them.

Radha and Krishna are used as a metaphor for the union of the individual soul and the world soul, which is celebrated in the festival’s final’milan,’ a rite that marks the completion of the festival. After performing the dance, literary “union,” the musicians sing in harmony and embrace one another. There were approximately 240 bauls in 2022, representing districts in West Bengal including Nadia, Murshidabad, Bankura, Bardhaman (Purba and Paschim), and Birbhum. The Russian folk band Otava Yo performed at the 2016 Baul event as well.

The Bannabagram Baul Fakiri Ashram in the Purba Bardhaman District of West Bengal will host this year’s Baul Fakiri Utsav from November 24th to the 26th.