KATHMANDU: The audience were filled with joie de vivre on a fine Saturday afternoon on March 26 at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Durbar Marg. Occasion was ‘Celebrating the Bond’, a fair organised by British Council to mark the 200 years of bilateral relation between Britain and Nepal. The event offered a complete package of food, music and entertainment to the people present at the venue, making it a fun-filled celebration.

It all started with a performance by Circus Kathmandu — its members performed some magnificent solo acts. Then there was a collaboration between Nepali folk band Kutumba and Circus Kathmandu. Members of circus troupe performed hula-hooping and aerial silk act to the tunes of Kutumba, wowing the audience.

Then Kutumba took the centrestage — it made the audience groove to their folksy beats. The six-member band played tunes of Baishai Ma, Mohani Lagla Hai, Jhamke Phuli among others with an ensemble of instruments maadal, dhime, khin, naykhin, flute, sarangi, and tungna.

Dallahan, a band from the UK, meanwhile entertained the audience with their heart-touching as well as funky tunes. They also put forth a collaborative performance with Kutumba at the event — a fusion of folk music from Nepal and Scotland.

But this is not the first time Kutumba has collaborated with this Scottish band. “We collaborated with Dallahan during our show in Edinburgh some three years ago. Working with them once again was fun for us. It was an opportunity for the Nepali audience to hear folk music both from Scotland and Nepal. It was something new for the audience in terms of music, melody and beats,” shared Siddhartha Maharjan, metal percussionist of Kutumba.

Along with musical performances, a British Music Radio programme Selector was also launched at the event in

partnership with Hits FM — the FM station will play the radio programme for the next one year as per Suchita Shrestha, Marketing Communications and Learning Centre Manager at British Council.

Meanwhile, few food stalls with diverse delicacies catered to the hungry stomachs of the participants of the event.