Organised by Young Bangla and Centre for Research and Information (CRI), the open for all concert saw a handful of talented and prominent bands performing from 1:30pm till midnight at the jam-packed stadium.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana attended the event in the evening, greeting the audience with Bangabandhu’s grandchildren Saima Wazed and Radwan Mujib Siddiq, a trustee of CRI.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Dhaka North Mayor Atiqul Islam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Information Murad Hassan, Indian High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das, chief coordinator of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary programmes Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and another trustee of CRI Nasrul Hamid Bipu, among others, were also present at the concert.
Inside the performances by the bands, the hosts and organisers frequently presented some of the historic facts about Bangabandhu, which led to a special holographic show on Bangabandhu in which his daughters reminisced how Bangabandhu spent the historic March 7. The show later broadcast the speech as well.
Graphic novel ‘Mujib’, a CRI publication, was also screened at the concert, shortly after the holographic show.
This year, bands performed in two time slots. Opening with the National Anthem at 1:30 pm, the concert continued with the performances of Introit, Arekta Rock Band, Adverb, Sin and Conclusion till 4pm.
Shortly after that, the main line-up of this year’s Joy Bangla Concert started performing which began with country’s first all-female folk band F Minor, and followed by Minar and band, AvoidRafa, Vikings, Shunno, Lalon, Arbovirus, Cryptic Fate, Nemesis, Fuad and Friends, and Chirkut.
One monumental incident saw the return of country’s one of the most prominent rock legends ‘Bassbaba’ Sumon on stage as part of Fuad and Friends. Sumon has been critically ill for several years.
Young Bangla and CRI started this annual concert in 2015.