Despite the serpentine queues to get into the stadium, the crowd was patient. Most of the audience agreed that this was one of the biggest cultural events in Dhaka in recent years. There was something for everyone at Ampfest.

The art galleries at Ampfest were embellished with a rich array of dazzling paintings by 11 emerging artists who participated at the Ampart workshop, led by renowned artist Murtaza Bashir and arranged by Benson & Hedges. The audience could even have their portraits or caricatures drawn for them while they mingled with the art community.

There was also an element of fashion at the event: Ampfest held a fashion show where models displayed exquisite outfits by prominent designer outlets. The audience seemed to enjoy the show.

Although the art exhibition and fashion show were commendable, the concert definitely walked away with the laurels. It is very rare to have so many stars in a single event and this rare event was a spellbinder with the mesmerising performances of the leading bands, artistes of Dhaka and two of the subcontinent's most celebrated musical groups Junoon and Strings.

The musical programme started two hours after the scheduled time and the Star Search winner of 2003, Reazul commenced the show, rendering O ki eshechey, followed by Salvation, Parthib and Komol winner of the Star Search 2004. Artcell appeased the crowd with Dukkho bilash and Odekha shorgo. However, some of audience complained that Artcell was not given sufficient time on stage.

Habib, the sensational musician who made a brilliant impact on the Bangladeshi music scene by his unique style of fusing Bangladeshi folk tunes with western rhythms, took the stage and captivated the audience with Krishno and Maya. Local artist, Milon Mahmud rendered the songs beautifully. The audience got a wonderful surprise when Habib's father, renowned artist Ferdous Wahid, performed his immensely popular number Mamoniya. Black performed Prakritik.

Probably the biggest surprise was the dramatic entrance of Junoon and Strings landing on the stadium in a helicopter. This was the first time a stunt like this ever occurred at a cultural event in Dhaka.

LRB started their performance with Hashtey dekho and drove the audience into a frenzy. Lead singer and guitarist of LRB, Ayub Bachchu enthralled the audience with a display of his guitar skills. The audience was in for another treat. One of the original rock icons of Bangladeshi band music Azam Khan took the stage with Ayub Bachchu of LRB, on the lead guitar, Fuad Naser Babu of Feedback was on the keyboard and Shaju of Artcell was on the drums.

Strings took the stage and received a warm Dhaka welcome from the audience. They started with a song from their very first album and then rendered some of their popular songs like Dhaani, Chaye chaye and Naa janey kiu. The group's superb singing had the audience singing and dancing along with them.

Followed by Strings, Nagarbaul got a lively response from the crowd. Nagarbaul performed songs like Deewana mastana and Dushtu cheler dol.

Junoon was the last act of the musical show. When Junoon performed Garaj baras ke, it literally did drizzle for a few minutes. Ali Azmat, lead singer of Junoon jokingly said "We didn't seriously mean it when we were singing Garaj baras ke".

Junoon also performed Yaar Bina, Yaar yahi dosti hain and a few other songs.

The crowd was exhausted by the time the musical show was over, but this experience would vividly remain in the minds of thousands of music lovers for time to come.