Shirui Lily Festival 2019: Nazareth to open ShiRock 2019 tonight

Nazareth, the Scottish hard rock veterans, arrived in Imphal on Oct. 15 to perform during the upcoming four-day ShiRock 2019, an annual rock music competition cum festival held as part of Shirui Lily Festival 2019.

The festival will commence today at various locations in Manipur’s picturesque Ukhrul district.

Nazareth will perform tonight while American glam rock band Extreme will perform on the closing day (Oct. 19).

Soon after arriving Imphal, the 51-year-old hard rock headed by its last founding member still performing with the band, Pete Agrew who is still performing with the band, during a media interaction said that the band would perform their best for the fans.

According to Tourism department, the main organisers of the festival, Nazareth will make their way to Ukhrul hill town for their proposed 90 minutes non-stop performance at Bakshi ground, 80 km north of Imphal.

Nazareth, who gained international fame due to their cover of country duo Boudleaux Bryant’s ‘Love Hurts’ featured on their 6th studio album Hair of the Dog, had earlier performed in Mizoram in April 2017 while Extreme will make their debut performance in India during the festival.

Recognising the importance of state flower, the Shirui Festival which was upgraded to a state level fest sponsored by government in May 2017, aims to spread awareness about conservation of the rare pinkish white flower that resembles the shape of a bell and also “to develop and implement sustainable and responsible tourism in the state” besides promoting Ukhrul as a tourist destination in Northeast.

The major attraction of this festival is ShiRock competition wherein nearly two dozen bands from five NE states will compete for the coveted title ‘Shirock 2019’ carrying a cash component of INR 10 lakh and the voice – the solo hunt for the individual prize competition during the Shirock which had etched a name on the country’s music map since last year, after the performance of American heavy metal bands Steelheart and Queensryche.

Live music, cultural shows, beauty pageants, exhibitions, folk songs, traditional dances and indigenous games and sports competitions will mark the four-day Shirui Lily Festival. Also, the festival will feature demonstrations of the age-old traditions and culture of the inhabitants of the district of Ukhrul.

(Our Correspondent)