Come one, come all to Country Roads’ 25th anniversary concert

Saturday, 16 February 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Popular foreign and local country, Western and folk musicians will come together in a celebration of music for needy children at the 25th anniversary of the iconic Country Roads concert in Colombo tomorrow (Sunday, 17 February).

The concert hosted and organised by the Colombo-based Country Music Foundation (CMF), founded 25 years ago by journalist Feizal Samath and marketing professional Juragan (Jury) Majid as a music-for-children charity, will feature the Mavericks from Germany, Astrid Brook from the UK, Bob Livingston from the US and Sri Lanka’s Cosmic Rays and Mariazelle. Founders Feizal and Jury are also to join in a memorable musical performance to celebrate 25 years of helping needy children across the island together with the promotion of this kind of music.

“We are excited and looking forward to an event amidst a journey that has taken us across to all four corners of the country, helping thousands of children with basic needs like school buildings, books, pencils, nutrition, water on tap, roofing sheets, mosquito nets, libraries and much more. This is all due to a host of sponsors and partners, and most of all, those who patronised our shows and contributed to the kids,” noted CMF President Samath, a veteran journalist.

The concert will be held at the Colombo Hilton, the host hotel and starts at 6.30 p.m. The CMF has raised millions of rupees over the years from these concerts and has worked in partnership with UNICEF and Save the Children, UK and host of local community groups including Sarvodaya to build pre-schools, main school buildings, provide learning and teaching material, school building material, libraries, books, drinking water facilities, mosquito nets to 1,500 children and their families, and a range of other support for needy kids across Sri Lanka.

The show, the longest running concert series in South Asia, has seen musicians from across the globe – the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and the Maldives – along with their Sri Lankan counterparts performing for a cause and donating their services.

All proceeds of the concerts are provided to needy children projects in places as far as Jaffna, Monargala, Batticaloa, Ampara, Vavuniya, Puttalam, Kudagama, Galle, Hambantota, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, etc.

For Sunday’s concert, the CMF is working with UNICEF to raise Rs. 1 million to set up three child-friendly courts outside Colombo.

The partners the CMF is working with this time, in addition to UNICEF, are SriLankan Airlines, Colombo Hilton, Dialog, BBDO, Bank of Ceylon, NDB and Cargills. Media partners are the Sunday Times and MTV/Channel 1-YES FM.

Tickets priced at Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 750 are available at Cargills Food City outlets at Rajagiriya (on Parliament road), Nawala, Majestic City, Kirulapone, Mount Lavinia and Staple Street.