No Bengal Classical Music Fest this year

The Bengal Classical Music Festival (BCMF) has once again been cancelled after organisers were denied permission to use the Army Stadium in Dhaka as the venue.

The Bengal Foundation made the announcement in a press statement yesterday. 

In it, the Foundation said that the was set to hold the seventh edition of the five-day long festival from November 28. Like every year, they applied to the Army Sports Control Board for allocation of the Army Stadium as the festival venue. 

“But we are very sad to say that we did not get the Bangladesh Army Stadium as the venue for the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2019,” the statement reads. 

Without permission to use the Army Stadium, which is an appropriate venue to host this large-scale festival with consideration to security, travel facilities and audience gathering, the BCMF 2019 has been cancelled, it said. 

Rezwanul Kamal Chowdhury, manager of communications at the Bengal Foundation, yesterday told The Daily Star that they always prefer to hold their program in Army Stadium for security reason. 

But the authorities denied the permission, citing “security concerns”, he said. 

The BCMF had been held in the Army Stadium since 2012. 

In 2017, it was initially cancelled due to venue permission issues but was rescheduled and eventually held in Abahani field in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

Last year, the festival was cancelled due to security reasons ahead of the general election.

Asked why the Abahani field was not an option this year, Rezwanul said that it would not be possible as the field was undergoing as a renovation work, adding that they could not find any other venue apt to hold the festival as big as the BCMF, which accommodates around 50-60,000 people as an audience every year.