Peace festival brings money, awareness – and entertainment
By Lwin Mar Htun | Sunday, 04 August 2013A two-day event to raise donations for refugees and internally displaced peoples in Kachin State has been a huge success, organisers say.
Kyat Pha from the band Project One performs at the Myanmar Peace Festival in Yangon on July 27. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
The Myanmar Peace Festival, headed by local comedian Zaganar, was held July 27-28 at Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon.
Entertainment ranged from live music performances to theatre and poetry readings, with a number of high-profile local acts performing and a film by director Kyaw Zaw Lin – titled Myay Sar Pin (Innocent Victims of the Fight) – being shown to audiences.
The musical line-up saw local artists Zaw Paing and Mee Mee Ke playing alongside Big Bag, No U Turn and Cyclone, among many others. Performances ranged from the heavy rock of Iron Cross to traditional dancers Moe Win, Moe Min and Han Zaw Moe Win, who entertained the crowd with the song "Nyein Chan Yay Lo Tel" (We Need Peace).
While the event focused on encouraging peace and tolerance and drew donations from people of various faiths, the atmosphere was somewhat marred by an often overly loud sound system as well as the overtly aggressive tone of a few jokes targeting Muslims by comedy act Five Star, which drew mixed reactions from the crowd.
However, an impression of General Aung San by another comedy act called Har Ngerr Kaung drew big applause.
The festival was broadcast live on SkyNet with pledges being made via telephone. MCs Ayine, Nghet Kyaw and Zaganar announced donations and collected funds in between the performances.
All money collected will be donated by the Myanmar Peace Center to refugees from Kachin State who have been displaced by ongoing conflict in the area.
Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/08/04/peace-festival-brings-money-awareness-and-entertainment/
No comments:
Post a Comment