For Dylan with love on his birthday... from Shillong
Monday - May 24, 2010, 05:44pm (GMT+5.5)
Shillong (IANS)- Shillongites never forget to celebrate legend Bob Dylan's birthday. And Monday was no different as nearly 100 Dylan fans descended on the Pearly Dew School here to wish that the singer stays "Forever Young".
This un-broken celebration in the Meghalaya capital began in 1972 from a small private celebration among close friends to an annual event that draws Dylan fans from across the country.
Lou Majaw, 63, is a respected musician from the northeast and is the driving force behind the annual Bob Dylan birthday celebrations.
"Happy birthday, Bob Dylan, wherever you are and god bless you," Majaw said as he began the birthday bash. Then with his eyes closed, he strummed the chords to "Blowin' in the Wind".
Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, in Duluth, Minnesota, on May 24, 1941, is a legend whose profound lyrics and songs set a new trend in American music spanning nearly five decades.
Among the Dylan fans was Jasper Dawson, who came from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
"I should thank Dylan for bringing me to Shillong to celebrate his 69th birthday," Dawson said while strumming "Tambourine Man".
Majaw was introduced to Dylan's music in 1966. "Dylan's songs changed my life... he lit up my life and gave it a lot of meaning," recalls Majaw.
"The more you know him (Dylan), there is more to learn about him," Majaw said.
Majaw, a self-taught musician and a household name in the northeast, now has a new mission. Through impromptu campus gigs, he is taking Dylan's music to thousands of children across schools in Meghalaya.
Born to a poor family, Majaw taught himself to play guitar in school.
After a few years as a struggler in Shillong, Majaw moved to Kolkata where he played at various pubs, bars and with bands like the "Dynamite Boys", "Vanguards", "Supersound Factory" and "Blood and Thunder".
He jammed with some of the biggest names of the Kolkata music scene like Nondon Bagchi, Arjun Sen and Lew Hilton. But Majaw is best known for his 'Bob Dylan Birthday Concerts', which he has been hosting every year since 1972.
"It took me six years to get to know Lou (Majaw). He is the only musician who has remained committed to Dylan and rock-and-roll all these years," said filmmaker Ranjan Palit, who has made a documentary on Lou called "Forever Young".
The first time when Palit met Majaw in 2001, the musician was playing Dylan numbers to a group of children in Shillong. "I remember him saying 'come in, it is a free country'. Then I decided to go back and told him I wanted to make a movie on him. His eyebrows shot up and on my third visit I was allowed into his home," Palit told IANS.
The Dylan number that Majaw does best is perhaps "Rainy day Woman (Everybody Must Get Stoned)" - an improvised version of the Dylan track that has become almost a Majaw cult.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
CAMPING ZONE
The camping area is open from May 23rd to the 25th, 2011. The camping area is located at one of the highland of 70th Bob Dylan’s Birthday Celebration venue. In the camping area there will be showers, toilets and rubbish bins. All participants can rest, meet up other people and have a proper party time at the camping area and can enjoy local dishes, wine and other specified food at the communitarian food zone near the Umtham Stream.
WHAT TO BRING:
To have a mind to be comfortably at Bob Dylan’s Birthday Celebration
Tents, sleeping mats, pillows
Lightweight camping furniture
Folding tables
Small and folding chairs
LED flashlight
Mattresses
Decoration to make your camping nest the most handsome during the celebration
Rubbish bags (deposit them in the bins that are placed all over venue)
WHAT NOT TO BRING
Generators
For reasons of fire safety, small gas stoves are not allowed inside the venue
Living room furniture
Construction material
Inflammable components
FACILITIES AT THE CAMPING AREA
Communitarian Food Outlets
You can come and enjoy the local dishes or local food festivals and also other varieties ranging from Chinese, Continental, Mexican and Indian. Here you can sit and enjoy the tasteful meal with your friends. There will be a crew facilitating and cleaning the area every time for proper hygiene of the place.
Toilets
Toilets are located at the camping areas. They have daily monitoring by festival crew. If you see any problem or lack of cleaning, please report it to the Eco Team – we all need to respect the Sacred Earth.
Showers
Shower facilities are free of charge. There are no warm showers available around the camping areas.
Electricity
There is no access to electricity at the camping areas. You may recharge your mobile phones or other electrical equipment near the Info Stand at the venue.
Security Lock Ups
There are neither Lock Ups nor luggage storages at the camping. You can find it in the Info Stand. Lock Ups are available through donation. We suggest you to store your luggage in the lock ups for safety and security reasons, avoiding extra problems of disappearance of your luggage.
Tent-Hire Facility
70th Dylan Birthday celebration will also have a Tent-Hire Facility that has been designed to create a much more comfortable and easygoing experience for nature lovers.
Inflatable double and single mattresses, pillows, sheets, shade and lighting are available who opt to travel light this year.
The service has also been designed for people who will be travelling lengthy distances. Tent hire will be available at a nominal donation for the celebration to grow; however, a full package is also available. The availability is very limited so the booking needs to be done well in advance.
To know about the tent booking details- please mail us at:
bobdylancelebrationshillong@gmail.com
Safety at the Camping Area
• Any use of open fire is prohibited
• Security staff will be patrolling the campsite but please do not leave anything valuable
in your tents
• Open fire includes candles, oil lamps and alike
• It is not allowed to bring and use generators at the festival’s camping areas
• Safety in numbers try to camp in a group with your friends, or chat to the people in the
tents next to you and look out for each other’s belongings
• It is not allowed to bring furniture other than regularly sized camping furniture
• If you do see a theft-taking place please alert a member of the security staff or camp-
site staff
• We expect our guests to follow these rules and the rules given by the Eco Team during
the festival
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
About 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration, Shillong
About 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration, Shillong
Bob Dylan, a legend, who spread peace and love in the world by his immortal and influencing music, is remembered and his music is celebrated all over the world on various occasions. One such gracious occasion is his birthday which is celebrated with great pomp and show all across the world. Here, in Northeast a similar celebration is organized every year in the honor of the legend and this celebration is popularized as ‘The Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration’.
The Bob Dylan Birthday celebration is 38 years old legacy, which was started by the Legendary Singer Mr. Lou Majaw, on May 24 back in 1972. The event was first organized in Assam house. Every year all Bob Dylan music lovers from North-East India come to Shillong to celebrate the birthday of the legendary Bob Dylan with Lou Majaw.
More bands to be updated.....
More details to be uploaded soon.....
Bob Dylan, a legend, who spread peace and love in the world by his immortal and influencing music, is remembered and his music is celebrated all over the world on various occasions. One such gracious occasion is his birthday which is celebrated with great pomp and show all across the world. Here, in Northeast a similar celebration is organized every year in the honor of the legend and this celebration is popularized as ‘The Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration’.
The Bob Dylan Birthday celebration is 38 years old legacy, which was started by the Legendary Singer Mr. Lou Majaw, on May 24 back in 1972. The event was first organized in Assam house. Every year all Bob Dylan music lovers from North-East India come to Shillong to celebrate the birthday of the legendary Bob Dylan with Lou Majaw.
The Legendary Lou Majaw is continuing this journey of celebration on 24th of May, 2011, and the 39th year of the 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration will be grand as it can be coined as the biggest celebration India has ever seen. This year the grandness of the event can be well imagined as the proposed venue is Kharsati Nature Park, Shillong, a 530 acre open land at the outskirt of Shillong, with the celebration of Birthday with a ‘Sunset to Sunrise concert’, an ultimate tribute to Dylan the singer and writer.
The main attraction of the celebration this year is ‘bring your own camp’ concept where participants will bring their own camps to enjoy the nature with Umtham stream flowing beside the venue. A special camping zone will be allocated at the venue near the main stage which is called as Music Peace Zone, where musicians from all over India along with Mr. Lou Majaw will perform and enjoy the celebration.
With multiple activities listed for the enjoyment, recreation and entertainment for the fun loving music lovers the celebration will be a behemoth one with camping and bonfires to romanticize the ambience.
The soul motive of the event is to relive and rejoice the peace spreading and soothing music which was created by the Legendary Bob Dylan.
The earlier events had crowd ranging from 5000-7000, who come and celebrates this musical day with free spirit.
MUSIC PEACE ZONE
Music Peace Zone as the name suggest is the chill out area for 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebrations 2011, producing a space with all the characteristics for cool ambience. The real music to enjoy, relax, dance from sunset to sunrise.
The Music Peace Zone will have decorative and functional lighting in the entire zone with Umtham streams flowing beside the area and lighting to also support Bob Dylan’s and Lou Majaw’s pictures around the zone.
This year’s music selection continues to be a mirror of a diversity of styles within the range to celebrate Mr. Dylan’s Birthday for the first time in such a bigger scale. We seek to show different music routes brought by musicians of different scenes, trying once more to contribute to the well being of the public and most importantly mark respect to Mr. Dylan.
The musicians from all over North-East India will join along with the legend himself Mr. Lou Majaw to celebrate the birthday with celebrity guest from other parts of India.
The artist participation lists confirmed till now are:
Celebrities:
Lou Majaw & Friends, Mr. Susmit Bose, Ms. Geetu Hinduja (confirmed till now)
Masterpiece
To bring the world of dreams and fostering new boundaries for our minds to explore it’s limitless through the medium of paint.
Riti Academy of Visual Arts will coordinate the entire ‘Masterpiece’ section of 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration with modern fine art as one of the highlights with a selection of amazing artists.
Click
The Photography Zone for all the creative minds to share their perspective of the mega celebration through their click of camera
Adventure Adrenaline
To explore the unexplored paradise of the celebration through Motorbikes (Royal Enfield) during the 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebration
Shanti
Meditation & Healing Area for the people who want to relax their mind from the daily hustle bustle of the city life
Jingbam
Local ethnic delicacies from all over the North-Eastern part of India, a rare opportunity for people participating in the celebration to taste the real North-East India in one place
Moonshine
Local wine festival from North-East India, a must for all music lovers to feel the celebration from the core
Retro Night
The festival will also comprise of open air retro DJ night on May 23rd, 2011 to welcome the birthday celebration .....
More bands to be updated.....
More details to be uploaded soon.....
MUSIC FOR PEACE
MUSIC FOR PEACE
Music Peace Zone as the name suggest is the chill out area for 70th Bob Dylan Birthday Celebrations 2011, producing a space with all the characteristics for cool ambience. The real music to enjoy, relax, dance from sunset to sunrise.
The Music Peace Zone will have decorative and functional lighting in the entire zone with Umtham streams flowing beside the area and lighting to also support Bob Dylan’s and Lou Majaw’s pictures around the zone.
This year’s music selection continues to be a mirror of a diversity of styles within the range to celebrate Mr. Dylan’s Birthday for the first time in such a bigger scale. We seek to show different music routes brought by musicians of different scenes, trying once more to contribute to the well being of the public and most importantly mark respect to Mr. Dylan.
The musicians from all over North-East India will join along with the legend himself Mr. Lou Majaw to celebrate the birthday with celebrity guest from other parts of India.
The guest artist list along with musicians from North-East India will be updated by end of January 2011.
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