MORE than 2,000 people are planning to log on to an online music festival to raise funds for stray animals in Bahrain.
Artists from around the world, including Bahrain, the US, the UK, South Africa and Poland, will be performing on Facebook Live tomorrow.
The fundraising concert, titled ‘Music to the Rescue 2’, is the brainchild of Bahrain resident Susan Cook, who is a volunteer at the Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre (BARC) in Saar.
Ms Cook, a British national who has lived in Bahrain for 14 years, said over 2,222 people have signed up for the event, which will take place tomorrow from 3pm to 9pm.
It is the second edition of the online concert, with the first held on April 18 and saw more than BD1,000 raised for stray animals.
“We have eight additional new artists performing at the second online event this time,” she told the GDN.
“We extended the timing by an additional hour after we saw a huge interest in online concerts.
“We have 21 performers, including Bahraini artists, and our 2,222 members of Facebook will enjoy live entertainment from performers from around the world.
“The current situation has caused a surge of interest for online events and this is helping us raise funds online.
“We are also posting sad and happy tales about how the centre is helping animals find new homes in the UK and Canada.”
Popular Bahraini artist Mo Zowayed will be performing for the second time, along with other artists from Bahrain including Abyooki, Khalid Al Shamlan and Esraa J, Milala, Christine Gordon and Chip Moore, Paddy Wall, Stefan Malinowski and Robyn and Andre, Ahmed Al Qasim, Sara Watson, and Jason and Lydia Carter.
Clarissa from the US will also perform at the online festival along with Beata Just from Poland, Deborah Jones from UK, Kuwait based singer Cleatus Tauro and Nik Uzi from Dubai.
In addition, Tamar and her trip hop band Zenphonics (based in Bahrain) have created a short video for the event, which will be screened at the end of the festival, synchronising all members separate parts into one video.
Bahrain based DJ Milala will be anchoring the event and people can donate through PayPal, GoFundMe and Benefit Pay.
BARC, an initiative spearheaded by Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, was set up to provide a new home for the animals sheltered at the Dogfather’s Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Saar.
The sanctuary used to house hundreds of stray and abandoned animals including dogs, cats, monkeys, birds and sheep – many having suffered severe abuse and neglect.
noorz@gdn.com.bh
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