Pohela Boishakh welcomed with online festivities

2020 will be remembered as an anomaly when it comes to celebrating time-honoured traditions, namely Pohela Boishakh, one of the most anticipated days in the Bengali calendar. The Bengali New Year celebrations, one of the most colourful festivals, had to come to a halt so as to combat the Coronavirus pandemic that has crippled the world in a matter of months. That being said, artistes found a way to engage people in the New Year festivities.

Grameenphone hosted a special programme titled Esho He Boishakh Ghore Ghore, in which Armeen Musa, Minar, Habib Wahid, Bappa Mazumdar and Zohad Reza Chowdhury performed their hearts out in front of the audience on Facebook. The sessions had a homely, soothing feel to them, as the artistes performed their originals, some on the requests of the audience in the live videos. "I am really happy to be able to perform for you," said Bappa Mazumder in his video, "please stay home, and try not to go outside unless it's an emergency. We will come out of the other end as winners." All the musicians expressed solidarity in battling the virus.

Blues Communication's Abar Hobe looked to celebrate the day with a stellar playlist of their hit shows, which included performances from Adity Mohsin in London, Nemesis and Artcell in Big Rock Day, and Arko Mukherjee in Sufi Fest. The videos were premiered live from their page.

Aarong's Boishakher Utshob Hok Nij Ghore, Nirapode was a live interview session hosted by Azra Mahmood, featuring Iresh Zaker, Sahana Bajpaie, Rafiath Rashid Mithila and Partha Barua, among other stars. The artistes shared how they were going to spend their day in this quarantine situation, and still make the most out of the occasion.

Besides the arranged shows, stars took to their own social media platforms to perform for their fans. Chirkutt arranged Ghorer Melay Chirkutt, a special home concert comprised of all their hits.  Rahul Ananda, Kazi Faisal Ahmed, among many others, were live on Facebook, entertaining the audience. Even amidst all the fear, the entertainers have kept our spirits up on today's joyous occasion.