The Bera Fest 2017 on 26 November

• All-day international drum festival at Viharamahadevi 
• Open Theatre coincides with 10th anniversary of Naadro

 Naadro, which has had a significant and unmistakeable presence in the percussion industry in Sri Lanka for 10 years is set to celebrate with a novel concept, ‘The Bera Fest’. 

This festival of drums (bera) and drummig will be held on 26 November at the Viharamahadevi Complex and Naadro has laid elaborate plans to take the audience on a mesmerising journey accompanied by the widest range of percussion instruments imaginable.

The Bera Fest is an all-day long event at one of the greenest locations in the heart of Colombo, the ideal setting for celebrating rhythm and sound. Most importantly it will feature the talent of almost all the major drummers in the country, along with performances of well-known drummers from other countries. They will all join Naadro to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary.

Naadro has inspired many young musicians in Sri Lanka over the years and therefore has arranged a special arena for anyone interested in learning about any aspect of percussion.

The grand finale will be a show featuring the cream of singers in Sri Lanka, all backed by Naadro.

Percussionists and drummers featured with NAADRO in the main concert include Giovanni Hidalgo (USA); Pete Lockett (UK); Aruna Siriwardhane; Elephant foot; Jananaath Warakagoda; Mahesh Denipitiya; Upula Madhushanka and Peshala Manoj. Drummers On Stage will include Lelum Rathnayake; Subhash – Marians; Dennis – Misty; Shamila – Daddy; Kaushan – Wayo; Billy Fernando – 2 Forty 2; Sumudhi – Music Matters; Jimmith Sirnanda – Magic Box; and Harshan Gallage – Thriloka.

Utilising every bit of experience gained since its inception Naadro would unleash a musical experience which would mesmerise a crowd of 3,000 spectators over a duration of two hours using a wide range of percussion instruments not limiting it to drums. The percussion melodies would be fusionised by the orchestra of Mahesh Deniptiya, one of the leading live music directors in the country who has not failed to entertain all his listeners with sensational music with unique musical arrangements. It would feature a group of artists who’s been working together with Naadro for the past 10 years.

Naadro, founded by Rakitha, began its long and yet unfinished and necessarily unending journey across the global musical firmament as a percussion band. Rakitha is the founder and leader of this percussion ensemble. He was once the youngest percussion artists of the world to have performed at LP studio. 

He’s also the only percussion artist of Sri Lanka who shares the International roster with the world known percussion artists such as Giovanni Hidalgo, C G Richi, Ronald Bruner Jr. (Grammy Award winning drummer), Tiki Pasillas (percussionist ­ Jlo, Mark Anthony), Taku Hirano, Tony Lindsay and Karl Perazzo of Santana, Kalani (percussionist ­ Yaani), Brendan Buckley (Drummer – Shakira), etc.

Events include an exhibition which would be the biggest percussion instruments show ever held in South Asia. Naadro has taken steps to showcase the wide range of percussion instruments they possess to the public. This would consist over 300 percussion instruments Naadro possess. 

An exclusive workshop for the amateurs in the field of percussion will be conducted by the veterans of the local industry and the foreign artists who are attending the festival. It will be conducted by international artists – Giovanni Hidalgo (USA) and Pete Lockett (UK) and local artists – Upula Madhushanka, Jananaath Warakagoda, and Peshala Manoj.