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Sri Lankans will be welcoming back an iconic tradition this October, as South Asia’s longest running concert for children, Country Roads, returns for its 27th year. Even more exciting, local fans of country and western music will be happy to hear that this year’s line-up of bands now includes Sri Lankan fan-favourites Flame, along with Country Road concert mainstays Cosmic Rays and 
Mariazelle Gunathilake, all of whom will undoubtedly help to attract a lot of interest due to their strong popularity amongst Sri Lankan audiences of all ages.
Also noteworthy, Sri Lankan bands will be joined on the stage by the Mavericks from Germany, courtesy SriLankan Airlines, and Astrid Brook from the UK, for the 11 October evening show at the Main Ballroom of the Mount Lavinia Hotel. Sponsors also include long-time supporters Bank of Ceylon, Dialog and Cargills. In addition, this year, the Country Roads 2015 concert has also brought on www.tickets.lk as its exclusive ticketing partner, with the tickets for the show already being sold online and via mobile phones, as well as at select stores. A full list of stores where tickets are being sold is available at the Country Roads 2015 event page at www.tickets.lk.
Another new addition is the Country Roads 2015 donations page at www.help.lk, which is now online, where anyone can go and donate to this year’s children’s charities over the next 60 days.
Organised by the Country Music Foundation and held 22 times since its inception in 1988, the Country Roads concert series has, to date, raised several million rupees for Sri Lanka’s needy children. From mother and child friendly initiatives related to clean water, dengue prevention (mosquito nets) and plantation workers, to funding libraries, schools and child-friendly courts, this concert series has passed on all its proceeds to many child-related causes over its 27 years.
Country Music Foundation President Feizal Samath, the organiser of the show since its 1988 inception, said, “It’s a pleasure to add highly sought after Sri Lankan band Flame to our roster this year, while also welcoming back the ever popular Cosmic Rays and Mariazelle Gunathilake. These local bands are graciously giving of their time and talent for the sole reason of helping Sri Lanka’s needy children, providing for charities that can improve the futures of local children. We thank them for that and request all Sri Lankans to come to the show and support us. And even if you can’t make it to the show go to www.help.lk and donate to the three, very worthy causes we are supporting in 2015.”
