Four days of music, 16 locations, over a 100 exceptionally gifted artistes from 17 countries and 50,000 participants. These are the numbers that the much anticipated ‘Senses and Soul’ Colombo Music Festival 2012, which starts on the 23rd of August, boasts. By those figures alone, it is easy to deduce the sheer magnitude and reach of this festival. The event is gaining further buzz with the news of the world’s ultimate record labels, Sony Records, Universal Records, and a world-renowned talent-scouting agency - The Fridge Dubai, also making their way to Sri Lanka for this mega festival.

“This is the first event of its kind to entice Sri Lanka”, Haadia S. Galely, the Director of the Colombo Music Festival 2012; Founder of Mantra Moods stated. “We are hoping to bring about a powerful cultural and musical movement for Sri Lanka, and we hope that through the festival, artistes young and old will be motivated to bring about a new standard of performance and become an inspirational force internationally. Keep your eyes open for tickets that will be available near you from the 1st of August.”

One of the major goals of the event is to promote, educate and support local acts. The island wide ‘Spirit’ competition, which is the lead-up to the festival, is already underway and is busy moulding, harnessing and bringing out the potential of various talented young artistes. The competition involved a rigorous search throughout the country for the performers with the highest potential. It is by no means an easy competition, but it is one that requires the highest level of application, concentration, and willingness to learn. The record labels will be present at the grand finale of the competition on the lookout for new and exciting talent.

The Senses and Soul, Colombo Music Festival will be the perfect time for aspiring and already established local performers to soak in a myriad of culturally significant musical styles and learn how to further their own approach to becoming the more complete artiste.

The wave of acclaimed musicians that will groove our shores will hail from the United States of America, Australia, China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Singapore and Brazil, to name a few.  The diversity present with the music, musicians and the instruments will be a major highlight of the event covering the city of Colombo with prestigious venues such as the festival hub - Waters Edge, the Dutch Hospital, the Colombo Museum, Lionel Wendt, Park Street Mews, Sivam Kovil, Seema Malakaya, the Taj Samudra etc...

Music has and always will be one of the most primal modes of emotional expression, and radiant artistes expressing themselves all over Colombo for 4 days is definitely a new summit of excitement. So do not miss Senses and Soul, Colombo’s first ever music festival, 4 days our little island will find hard to forget.