Enjoy a musical night at this annual open-air Christmas concert in Bandra

Do you hear the Christmas bells ringing It comes from Bandrarsquos 106yearold The Salsette Catholic Cooperative Housing Society Ltd SCCHSL It was founded in 1918 by Francis Anthony Cyril Rebello the former accountant general of Bombay Presidency and father of the cooperative movement for Catholics in West India In keeping with the societyrsquos aim to bring together and serve the community SCCHSL will usher in the first Christmas seated music concert of the season that will be held this weekend at the DrsquoMonte Park Recreation Centre lawnsFrom left Marie Paul Mimosa Pinto and Ella AtaiAfter an edition in 2021 titled Swinging with the Stars and a followup concert last year with the ongoing theme mdash Starry Starry Night A Magical Christmas in the Park mdash this yearrsquos concert brings in popular names curated by The Sassy Songbirds an allwomenrsquos harmonybased music group of Marie Paul Ella Atai and Mimosa Almeida Pinto Paul tells us ldquoWe change the curation for each edition This year we opened it up to singers in the industry Wersquove got a mixed bag of ballads rock and roll blues jazz and more by solo performers The band is put together by Mimosa and compered by Shahriyar Atai who knows the pulse of the Bandra audiencerdquoAsif Ali BegBut ask the multihyphenated artiste Shahriyar Atai about his preparations and the singer says ldquoI mostly play it by ear and feed off the energy of the audiencerdquo Atai continues ldquoEach edition I bring in different Christmas characters Last year I was Rudolf and this year I am the green guy with a heart too small mdash the Grinchrdquo Returning to the stage this year Atai will perform an original track sung as the Grinch He will also put up a stall by his venture Bhonu Appetite serving Parsi favourites with a twistReiterating the lineup of the starstudded show Atai adds ldquoThe stars are going to be on the earth instead of the skyrdquo We know hersquos referring to names including Asif Ali Beg an artiste whose performance is anticipated with bated breath Beg shares ldquoFor me Christmas isnrsquot about Santa and snowmen I chose a medley of two songs that share the real story of Christmas One is called Gabrielrsquos message and the other is a traditional Irish song Irsquom also adding a surprise jolly number to my performancerdquoBeg tells us that hersquos a fan of The Sassy Songbirds but hersquos not the only one At an earlier show this year Ella Atairsquos stage entry and exit was met with an ovation and a few lsquoWe love you Ellarsquo cheers For this concert Atai remarks ldquoIrsquoll be singing This is Christmas keeping sight of the true spirit of the season Itrsquos a song that centres on the birth of Jesusrdquo The show will end with a curtain call where every artiste will sing the concertrsquos anthem called A Christmas wish for you composed by The Sassy SongbirdsThe SCCHSL continues to light up their streets during the festive season fostering a sense of celebrating Christmas together Secretary Cornel K Gonsalves shares that the festivities grew from there Along with the concert the society will hold an upcoming Christmas bazaar housie night and a Januaryend barbeque that has been running for over a decade ldquoThis concert is our signature show Itrsquos a way to bring the community togetherrdquo Gonsalves concludesOn December 2 7 pm onwards gates open at 615 pm firstcome firstserve basisAt DPRC Lawn St Andrews Road Bandra WestTickets Buy tickets at the DPRC officeCost Rs 475