Second edition of Udaipur World Music Festival (UWMF) promises to be much bigger, grander and exciting than last year’s festival (which itself had set very high standards). UWMF was kicked off yesterday night with a curtain raiser event at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.

Sanjeev Bhargava, the festival director, informed that the festival will last one day longer than last year and will be for 3 days (10-12 Feb). He said that they will be showcasing Rajasthan big time during this festival – Udaipur station has been refurbished. Nathu Khan, Babu Khan Bagadwa & group(Bikaner) and Hakam Khan & group (Barmer) will be performing to welcome festival attendees who will be coming to Udaipur from all over the country and overseas.

The other interesting elements of this year’s festival include: a) Performance of Macedonian Balkan gypsy band Kočani Orkestar on the streets of Udaipur and b) French group performing exclusive lec-dem on Baroque music on 12 February at 11AM at MMPS school.

Besides the free for all sessions on all day, this year’s edition will also host an invite-only performance at Jag Mandir on 2nd and 3rd day morning.

This year’s fest is set to host over 150 artists from 16 countries including Armenia, Canada, Cuba, Iran, Italy, Macedonia, Mozambique, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, United Kingdom, Turkey and Switzerland.

First day will start at 7pm at Gandhi Ground with Iranian American Singer Azam Ali and Niyaz’s spiritual Electro Sufi World Music. Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa will follow this Sufi performance. Traditional African songs with spin will be provided by artists from Mozambique, Norway, Sweden and Zimbabwe-Monoswezi.

Second day will start at 3pm at Fateh Sagar with poetic rendition by Ablaye Cissoko(Senegal) along with Constantinople Ensemble (Canada). Kabir Cafe will follow up this performance. Gandhi Ground, in the evening, will host Indian rock band Parvaaz along with South African World Music band Hot Water. Swarathma, Bangalore based folk fusion band will wrap up the show.

Swiss-Cuban musician Yilian Canizares and Indian Band Advaita will run the show at 3pm on third day at Fateh Sagar. Festival will end with performances by Italian band Officina Zoe, Dhruv Voyage and London Community Gospel Choir at Gandhi Ground on day 3 starting 7 pm.