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| The Storm Festival in Coorg hit the high notes with its very first edition this January. |
It was a three-day mega-party on a scale seldom seen in India. Seven stages, 140 of the world’s best electronic dance music acts, and a crowd of 100,000 people. And for those looking for other distractions, there was a flea market, a rock climbing wall, art installations, tarot card reading, and even beach volleyball.
That was the Sunburn Festival, the Big Daddy of all music extravaganzas in the country. Says Nikhil Chinappa, festival director, Sunburn: “Nothing succeeds like success. And with Sunburn becoming a sensation, fans everywhere wanted to be part of an unforgettable event.”
Sunburn may be a chart-topper but it isn’t the only contemporary music festival that’s pushing the tempo. In fact, a music-lover — with nothing much else to do — could easily go festival hopping all year, perhaps starting out at Sunburn in Goa and moving on to the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Pune.
From there they could head to the Escape Festival of Music & Arts at Naukuchiatal, in Uttarakhand, go south to the Storm Festival in Coorg or to the M.A.D Festival in Ooty. Alternatively, if cooler climes beckon, they could head for the Gulmarg Winter Festival in Srinagar, stopping off on the way for Area 79 near Chandigarh. And don’t forget Calcutta where they might drop in to catch the CAW Festival or D.U.S.K.
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You could say that the Spirit of Woodstock has finally reached India — after 44 years. But it’s more than just Love, Peace and Music. Indian contemporary music festivals are a mix of local and international music and generous doses of art, films, photography and even adventure sports.
Fresh brews
The 2012 festival scene kicked off fresh and dewy with the Storm Festival which hit the sweet spot from the moment the venue was announced — Napoklu, in Coorg, Karnataka, about 250km from Bangalore. “It was a logistical nightmare as everything had to be sourced from Bangalore and nearby cities,” says N.A. Lavin Uthappa, managing director, Liquidspace Entertainment, the organisers of Storm.
But the end product was a dream, with artists like Indian Ocean, The Raghu Dixit Project, Leslie Lewis and Soulmate taking the stage. Also rocking the party were acts like Faridkot, La Pongal, Dale Anderson, Arjun Vagale and Calcutta’s Sanjay Dutta. Add to that the flea markets and a multi- cuisine food court. Stormers could also let off steam with activities like paintball, Zorbing and rope courses.
The highlight though was the camp-out. Says Jishnu Dasgupta of folk rock band Swarathma: “Camping was the most memorable part. Some of us were jittery at first, but one look at the Quechua tents put our doubts to rest. They were so comfortable.” Impromptu jam sessions by the bonfire was another memory Stormers will cherish for a long time. About 3,000 people turned up daily for the festival.
On an even bigger scale was the 2nd edition of Bacardi NH7 Weekender held last November in front of a crowd of about 15,000 — that’s compared to about 4,500 in 2010. The organisers, however, insist that it isn’t the size but quality that matters. NH7 Weekender, they claim, is ‘The Happiest Festival’. “The atmosphere is world class. They really are the Glastonbury of India,” says Jalebee Cartel’s Arjun Vagale.
Also testing waters in March this year was the Gulmarg Winter Festival 2012 in Srinagar. On offer here were a mix of top acts like The Raghu Dixit Project, Half Step Down and Chill Om Records along with a short film festival and a photography workshop. And for music lovers who like their adrenaline rush, there were activities like skiing and snowboarding.
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| Brand Sunburn plans to go international this year at multiple venues across Asia |
Other new festivals are aiming for the high notes too. Coming up between April 5 and April 7 is the M.A.D Festival on the Fernhills Palace grounds in Ooty, which will have about 40 music and dance acts from across India and abroad. Giving it a back-to-the- roots flavour will be performances by the manganiyars, folk singers from Rajasthan and by Nilgiris hill tribes. And the organisers are planning a 200-tent camp-out. Of course, you could also opt to stay at the over 150-year old Fernhills Palace.
And if you are into scenic destinations, it might be worth checking out Area 79 later this year. The two-day festival, organised by alternative entertainment company Audio Ashram will be held at Kikar Lodge at the foothills of the Shivalik range near Chandigarh around September or October. Choose from three different stages showcasing electronica, experimental and Indian classical music acts. And, of course, there will also be a mix of music, art and adventure sports like zip-lining, paintball and mountain biking.
Special somethings
The fact is that everyone is thinking bigger, better and snazzier. They are coming up with new spin-offs and mini-shows and other innovations to draw the crowds.
For instance, Brand Sunburn, which will go international this year, will soon roll out lifestyle merchandised products and even cafes. Besides that it is organising Sunburn Hangover and Sunburn Arena tours that takes place in major cities throughout the year. You can also catch the brand new Sunburn Summer Fest in a few days from now in Mumbai.
Other festivals are also promoting themselves heavily. Escape, held in May every year in Naukuchiatal, Uttarakhand, has started its run-up events from February instead of the usual April. “These events allow us to showcase painting, photography, pottery, flea markets, apart from music,” says festival director, L(mama) Tochhawng.
And festivals like NH7 Weekender are coming up with innovations to keep audiences hooked. So, the festival saw Tattoo Republic, India’s first tattoo convention with over 45 stalls, this year. And at the CAW festival, organised by Smoke Inc., Magic Wallrush and the Allsport Foundation in Calcutta there was an ‘open mic’ event for new talent to strut their stuff. Apart from that, there was an art and photography exhibition and even the pulsating Rasta Jam a street dance competition.
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| World-class production coupled with six performance stages has made Bacardi NH7 Weekender a festivals circuit favourite Pic by Kunal Kakodkar |
Others too are making sure they do eye-catching promotions. Take a look at Delhi’s Holi Cow Festival, held in March (on Holi), which organisers claim was “bigger, fatter and madder” than before. From an informal gathering of about 40 friends, artists and musicians, Holi Cow, which raises funds to educate children in performing arts, drew almost 100 performers and 5,000 attendees this year.
The festival introduced Moo Yatra as a run-up this year. Says Raul Chandra, founder and curator of the festival: “Almost 100 bikers in hand-modified Bullets took to the city roads four days before the event.” And the job of design and graphics for the festival was handed over to the New India Bioscope Company. “The inspiration was Indian kitsch. The Cow was given a maharaja feel with a very Ramleela style crown. We also gave out these crazy crowns to the audience,” says couturier Nida Mahmood, who along with Chandra is a partner in the company
In Calcutta, the city’s first dance music festival D.U.S.K now has two editions. “The success of D.U.S.K prompted us to do the festival twice a year — Summer D.U.S.K and Winter D.U.S.K,” says DJ Sanjay Dutta, who conceptualised the festival. Winter D.U.S.K attracted 5,000 people in 2011 (compared to 1,440 in its first year in 2009).
On a different note
Most festivals, for obvious reasons, are away from urban agglomerations in spots where there’s room to spread out and maybe even scenic beauty to boot. But some festival organisers reckon that not everyone can travel long distances for music festivals.
So, you have urban festivals like Bass Camp and the Calcutta International Guitar Festival that bring the music to audiences in their own cities.
Bass Camp, which promotes cutting edge bass-heavy music, happens every quarter in clubs in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. The next edition will be held over three days in May. Bass Camp began in 2010 with local acts but now international artists like Concord Dawn, Klute, Jazzsteppa and Nymfo headline each edition. “The big plan is to have a larger outdoor version in Mumbai this year,” says Sohail Arora of Mumbai-based artist booking agency Krunk.
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| The Escape Festival of Music & Arts also has painting and photography workshops |
Similarly, the organisers of the Calcutta International Guitar Festival are also planning big. They have a budget of Rs 1.25 crore for this year’s show (compared to Rs 85 lakh in 2010). And this year Avik Saha, who conceptualised the guitar festival, will also launch the New Wave Festival in November. “Here, classical musicians like singer Shubha Mudgal and sarod player Soumik Dutta will perform twice in a day — first they’ll play numbers from their classical repertoire and next their contemporary work,” says Saha. To promote audience interest, Saha has also started a six concert series — Live in Concert, Live in Parks, Live in School, Live in Youth, Live in India and Live with Bickram Ghosh.
God is in the details
They may be big already but even the stars festivals are looking at the minutest details to keep their standards world class.
Sunburn, worried by traffic problems around the festival site, hit on an innovative way out. “We roped in Barclays Cycle Hire from London which lets users hire cycles, return them to docking stations around the city and pick them up from where they left them,” says Harindra Singh, vice chairman and managing director, Percept Ltd., which owns the Sunburn property.
The festival this year also adopted the Leave No Trace campaign to minimise its carbon footprint. Alcohol glasses had slogans ‘Trash Me’ and ‘I Deserve a Bin’, and volunteers along with Sunburn enthusiasts cleaned up the venue every day. Another initiative involved switching off all the lights at the event for five minutes each day, with the crowds waving neon sticks to pledge their support for energy conservation.
Meanwhile the NH7 Weekender team blew up tweets about the festival, along with the twitter handle and nicknames, to make road signs. Plus there was almost 10,000ft of bunting with emoticons threading its way across the venue.
Says Vijay Nair, co-founder and director of artist management company Only Much Louder that organised NH7 Weekender: “We are obsessed with production — perhaps even more than music.”
So, to make sure there were no complaints to mar the good vibes, the team took care of every detail like cleanliness, enough toilets for women and even minimizing the amount of time spent in queues at bars.
Give and take
One reason why festivals are thriving is that advertisers are beginning to cash in on the large numbers of young people attending the gigs.
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| Calcutta got its share of the festival fever with CAW in March |
Indian Ocean vocalist Rahul Ram has another take. “Organisers are more confident about their audience, which has matured. NH7 Weekender, for instance, had bars, pretty girls in short dresses and no cops inside the festival venue, yet there wasn’t a single untoward incident. Add to that more new and original music happening and more availability of venues than before.
And what do the festivals do for the audiences? “Festivals like Bacardi NH7 Weekender bring every genre of music from metal to folk rock to the audience all at once,” says Mahesh Madhavan, president and CEO, Bacardi India. Bacardi also backs the Eristoff Invasion Festival that brought international stars like Prodigy (in 2011) and David Guetta (2012) to Indian shores.
Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept Ltd., points out that these festivals have a huge impact on the local economy. “Each person attending Sunburn in Goa spends $1,000-$2,000 on an average,” he says.
In fact, festivals like Storm and Gulmarg are positioning themselves as destination festivals, and have even got the support of the Karnataka and J&K tourism departments respectively.
So, the scene overall definitely looks promising, and though it is still a long way to perfection, there’s reason enough to celebrate the good times for now.
