Live music brings new life to Cox’s Bazar evenings

Swimming in the sea in the morning and watching the sunset from the beach in the afternoon have long been part of the familiar routine for tourists visiting Cox’s Bazar. With limited entertainment options, many return to their hotels after evening falls or cut their trips short and head home. That pattern, however, is now changing, with musical programmes being organised at various hotels and resorts in Cox’s Bazar after sunset.

Such scenes can be seen at several hotels and resorts in Cox’s Bazar town and along the Marine Drive. Cultural programmes continue from evening until late at night, drawing local and foreign tourists who gather to listen to music and enjoy food.

Among the hotels, Hotel Kollol at Laboni Point and Mermaid Beach Resort at Pachardwip along the Marine Drive attract large numbers of tourists. Several other star hotels also regularly organise live music programmes.
At the main point of Laboni Beach, Hotel Kollol has been organising cultural programmes every evening for the past seven years. Different types of food are also served alongside the programmes. The hotel has 140 air-conditioned rooms, from which guests can view the sea and sunset.

A distinctive feature of Kollol’s cultural programmes is its stage. Located at the northern corner of the hotel courtyard, it has been designed in the shape of a traditional sampan of Cox’s Bazar. Local artists perform folk and modern songs there.

Several hundred chairs are placed in the open field in front of the stage. Many others stand near the adjacent swimming pool to listen to the music. Some guests also enjoy the programmes from the balconies of the seven-storey hotel.

One recent evening, Nazibul Islam, a businessman from Shyamoli in Dhaka, spoke at the courtyard of Hotel Kollol. He had come to Cox’s Bazar with his family for a three-day holiday. Nazibul was listening to music while having food at a table arranged in the evening setting.

Nazibul Islam, 42, said, ‘There are many places to visit in Cox’s Bazar during the day, but once evening comes, it seems there is little to do. Kollol’s programme has changed the mood of our trip.’

Nasrin Sultana, a student at a private university, said, ‘There is nowhere else in Cox’s Bazar town where you can see an arrangement like Kollol’s under the open sky. A movie used to be shown at one of the star hotels, but that has now stopped. All the cinema halls in the town are also closed.’

Hotel Kollol is operated by J&Z Group. Imran Hasan, the group’s managing director and secretary general of the Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association, said there had been little development of nighttime entertainment in Cox’s Bazar for tourists drawn to the sea.

He said evening music programmes had been organised in the hotel courtyard for several years to meet tourists’ demand and represent Cox’s Bazar. Both tourists and local residents can join the programmes and enjoy the entertainment free of charge.

Mohammad Habibul Bashar, general manager of Hotel Kollol, said artists perform songs at the Sampan stage every day from evening until 11:30pm. The programme is open to everyone.

Mermaid Beach Resort, an ecotourism establishment, has been developed at Pachardwip Beach along the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive. It generally attracts more foreign tourists. Throughout the year, various cultural programmes featuring local and foreign artists are organised for guests’ entertainment.

The resort’s programmes include the Thirty First Night and the three-day Burning Crab Festival. Tourists from various countries, including Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan and the United States, come to attend these events. More than 400 tourists from 11 countries attended the festival held in January this year. In addition, a ‘Sun Set and Moon Eating Party’ is organised twice a month on the open beach. Foreign artists perform as DJs on an oval-shaped stage.

Local artistes perform on a stage, shaped like a red crab and built on the beach, at the Burning Crab Festival. Photo: ATT

For the Burning Crab Festival, a stage shaped like a red crab is built on the beach. Young women from different communities, including Mro, Marma, Tripura, Chakma, Pangkhoa and Rakhine communities from Khagrachhari, Rangamati, Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar, perform dances there. Umbrella dance, bottle dance, Jhum dance, bamboo dance and lamp dance attract audiences. Baul music sessions and film festivals are also organised.

Anisul Haque Chowdhury, managing director of Mermaid Ecotourism Limited, said foreign tourists prefer to enjoy themselves in a quiet environment by the sea. These programmes are organised to promote Cox’s Bazar tourism worldwide. The events at Mermaid Beach Resort are arranged following the model of the Burning Man Project in Black Rock City, United States. Alongside music and dance, various activities, including fire shows, keep audiences engaged.

At the ground floor guest seating area of Hotel Sayeman Beach Resort in Kalatali, several local artists perform every evening. The performances feature songs accompanied by guitar and tabla.

Resort manager Sarwar Alam said the programme takes place from 6:30pm to 9pm. Local and foreign tourists enjoy local folk music there.

The performances feature songs accompanied by guitar and tabla. Photo: ATT

Live music is also organised in the lobby of another nearby star hotel, Ocean Paradise, in the evening. Sayeed Alamgir, the hotel’s public relations officer, said tourists return to their hotels in the evening after spending the day by the sea and travelling around. Guests then sit in the lobby and enjoy music. Every day from 5pm to 9pm, three artists perform songs combining the mandolin and tabla.

Besides these, several hotels in the town, including Hotel Cox Today, Long Beach Hotel, Prasad Paradise and Sea Palace Hotel, also organise tourist-focused cultural programmes.

Muquim Khan, general secretary of the Cox’s Bazar Hotel-Resort Owners Association, said various live concerts and events, including ‘Indigenous Fair’, ‘Thirty First Night’ celebrations, kite festivals, ‘Sand Sculpture’ festivals, ‘Beach Carnival’ and beach volleyball, used to be organised at the sea beach. Such open-air events have been suspended for about a decade on security grounds. Hotel Kollol and Mermaid Beach Resort are exceptions, he said.

They organise music programmes in open spaces throughout the year in an effort to retain tourists.

Muquim Khan said many establishments were interested in organising cultural programmes like Kollol and Mermaid, but most hotels did not have open spaces. Those that do have such spaces are also unable to organise programmes for various reasons.

Abdul Shukkur, president of the Cox’s Bazar Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said popular tourist destinations around the world, including Phuket and Pattaya in Thailand, Langkawi in Malaysia, Goa in India, Bali in Indonesia, Nepal and Bhutan, offer nighttime entertainment and live music. Investment is needed to expand nighttime entertainment in Cox’s Bazar to attract foreign tourists.