‘Felt like a second home’: Bangla band Cactus reflects on their first-ever Canada tour during Durga Puja 2025

Renowned for shaping the Bangla rock scene, Cactus brought their music to the Bengali diaspora and other music lovers across Canada during their October tour. The visit was organised by Probaashe Bangali Adda, a prominent socio-cultural group for Bengalis in the Greater Toronto Area (Brampton).

Major events were held in Durham, Pickering, Toronto, Vancouver and Saskatchewan, with shows woven into local Durga Puja festivities that drew large, enthusiastic crowds.

Siddhartha “Sidhu” Ray, the band’s frontman and vocalist, reflected on the emotional impact of the journey, calling it “more than we could have hoped for.” Their first-ever Canada tour, he said, opened a new chapter for the band.

“It is our first time in Canada,” Sidhu said in an October interview with IBNS. “To feel such warmth and enthusiasm from our fans across the country… it seemed people are genuinely eager for us. Canada felt like a second home.”

Now in its 33rd year, Cactus has been at the forefront of Bangla rock for more than three decades. Sidhu, who balanced his musical journey with a career in medicine, admitted that “the path was not always easy.”

“Medicine is such an important profession,” he said. “I felt I had to be hard-hearted in that field, but music has always been where my heart truly lies.”

In the early days, Sidhu recalled, the concept of Bangla rock was met with scepticism. “When I began,” he said, “the idea of rock in Bengali simply didn’t exist.” But their performances on Kolkata’s college campuses changed everything.

“We received an overwhelming response from the youth in colleges when we started our shows,” he said. “That’s what took us from being marginalised to becoming part of the mainstream.”

The band’s Canada tour covered at least six cities, connecting with festival crowds and uniting Bengali communities nationwide.

Their latest EP, Sesh Paowa Khoborey, featuring three tracks, was a highlight of the tour and marked a new era for Cactus following its refreshed 2021 lineup.

(Reporting by Suman Das)