Shillong set for record-breaking guitar fiesta
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 1:47 pm posted by Admin (88 views)Shillong, (PTI): Come October 26, and Meghalaya will kick-off its famous Shillong Autumn Festival with a record-breaking event when over 2,000 guitarists would vie for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest guitar ensemble.
Guitarists from all over Meghalaya, the northeast, as well as other states, would perform Bob Dylan’s classic “Knocking on Heavens Door” at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.
The strumming session, titled “Rhythms of Meghalaya”, would be looking to break the earlier world record set by 1,721 guitarists from Kansas City, USA, who had performed Deep Purple’s classic “Smoke on the Water” on June 4.
“We would like the world to change its perception towards the northeast. The region is not just all about insurgency and negative things, positive things happen too. We are for everybody. We want to focus more on the positive vibrations of the region,” State Education Minister and Chairman of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF), R G Lyngdoh, told PTI.
The proposed guitar ensemble, which is also expected to witness celebrity guitarists, will kick off the 10-day-long Autumn Festival in this hill city, often billed as the country’s rock capital.
The guitarists are rehearsing ahead of the big event.
According to the organisers, a large contingent from Nagaland has already confirmed its participation.
