The worlds of music and football will come together in Darjeeling’s most famous promenade, Chowrasta, on the day the FIFA World Cup final will be played.

Plans are afoot to assemble more than 6,500 guitarists at Chowrasta to celebrate “peace, hope, brotherhood and harmony” at a time when one of the world’s biggest events takes place.

Until now, the largest guitar ensemble was achieved by 6,346 participants in an event organised by Thanks Jimi Festival, in Wroclaw, Poland, on May 1, 2009.

“We are looking at getting a record crowd for the event that we have christened: Strumming for Mother Earth,” said Palzor Tshering of Darjeeling Grassroots Revival Project which is holding the event in association with Edwards Foundation and Siddhant Memorial Trust.

Guitarists from not just Darjeeling but also Kalimpong, Kurseong and even Sikkim are expected to participate in the December 18 event. During the Sunday event that starts at 3pm, two famous songs will be played at the venue.

The songs are One Love by the iconic Bob Marley and Wailers and another would be Musu Musu Hasi Deu of Norden Tenzing Bhutia of the famous Nepali ensemble, The Himalayas.

“Norden Bhutia died in 2019 and we wanted to pay tribute to him as well,” said Tshering. Bhutia was born in Calcutta and was raised in Kurseong. He later settled in England where he breathed his last.

Bhutia is credited with transforming Nepali music and heralding a change in music taste and content. The song Musu Musu Hasi Deu was also adopted in Bollywood film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi.

This is, however, not the first time that guitarists are coming together in Darjeeling.

On January 3, 2013, over 600 guitarists played John Lennon’s Imagine at the Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival in a tribute to a school student who was raped and later died in Delhi. The rape incident had shocked the conscience of the world.

Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono has issued a statement after the Darjeeling event.

“I’d like to say thank you with all my heart to the 600 guitarists who gathered and played together in India last week in protest against the terrible violence done to an innocent woman. You have used your creative skill to make a powerful statement,” Ono had stated.

The organisers of the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever released an official soundtrack of four songs, instead of one official song.

The songs are Hayya Hayya (Better Together), Arhbo, Light the Sky and Dreamers.