Last week, Bengaluru danced to the tunes of Echoes Of Earth on the 7th and 8th of December, 2019 at The Embassy Riding School. Centered around the theme of ‘Sanctuary’, the festival stayed true to promise of being an eco-friendly environment that does not only implement but also educate. The music, which is obviously the highlight of any music festival, served us with some delicious tunes to satiate our hunger for non-commercial jams. I mean, we’re talking about the likes of Acid Paulii, Fakear, Natasha Diggs, Lifafa and more. Since there is much to be spoken about, we’ll take it step by step.
1) Stages
We cannot get to the music without talking about the grand platforms that hosted these stellar acts on both nights. There were four stages, with our favourite one being an intimate corner by the Big Tree under dozens of strings lights. And, it was solar powered! The Vulture Stage, made using recycled parts from last year’s stage, was the dance centre of the festival. The wings of the vulture were kinetic and moved to certain kinds of music. The Hangul Stage, made using polygonal structural modelling, was the most creative of the lot. The visuals projected on the it gave the image of the head in actual movement, which complemented the music being hosted on the stage. The Tiger Stage, built as a celebration of the increasing tiger population in the country, was built using corrugated sheets.
2) Music
If there is anything we love more than watching our favourite artists is discovering new ones. This festival had a line-up that just kept giving and giving. Though there were some recognisable names like Acid Paulii, Fakear, Viken Arman, Prabh Deep and more, we also got to explore so many sounds from around the world that our playlists are now exploding with new music. World fusion, techno, alternative and acoustic were the sounds heard echoing from the Embassy Riding School. If you did not make it to the festival, here is a comprehensive list of the artists you missed out on – Acid Paulii, Fakear, Shigeto Live Ensemble, Squarepusher, Daniel Waples & Flavio Lopez, La P’Tite Fumee, Sarathy Korwar, Natasha Diggs, Maksim Dark, (((O))), Ana Lilia, Viken Arman, Garden City Movement, as well as Indian artists such as Prabh Deep, The Soul, Lifafa, Jitter, Thaalavattam, Kavya x Chaz, Stalvart John, Tasnneem, Alina, Project Mishram.
3) Food & Beverages
Bangalore loves a good party, so it was of utmost importance that the food and drinks counter should serve up a befitting fix for the revellers. And they delivered. With a host of vegan, vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, we could dig into a wide array of cuisines that suited our cravings at different points during the festival. Smally’s Resto Bar, Royanna Military Canteen, Chinita Real Mexican Food, Social Offline, Sarah’s, Soup Station, SheeshKebab, Slice of Spice Signature-Indranagar, Mini Stop and Apsara Ice Creams were some of stalls at the festival. Now coming to beverages, there was a wide variety of spirits and cocktails to keep the energy high. We hope you had a chance to catch the famous Johnnie Walker Highballs at the Johnnie Walker Highballs Zone.
4) Installations
This year, we saw plenty of installations made from recycled parts of the previous editions. That itself earns a brownie point in our books. Every installation told a story and stayed true to the theme of the festival. They also made for great selfie points. If you’re talking a selfie, might as well spread a message of positivity through it, right? Our favourite was the Mahseer Installation by the Wildlife Association of South India. You could walk into installation to learn all about one of the largest freshwater fish in India. Our favourite natural installation was the Big Tree, a grand old specimen that had its branches sprawled out for revellers to sit on.
5) Pet Zone
We love it when our four-legged friends are given the love and respect they deserve. From all the festivals we have attended, this one made sure that our furry companions had an entire area dedicated to them, complete with toys, drinking water and treats. The festival had tons of puppy love to go around, with tons of revellers bringing their doggos along. It was normal to stop on the way from one stage to another to pet a doggo.
6) Nat Geo Wild Zone
One of the primary partners of the festival, Nat Geo Wild got their own little zone, their own sanctuary, that made the most of what the festival stands for. At 2pm, 3.30pm and 5pm, kids and adults were taken on a tour of this sanctuary and enlightened about interesting facts around the animals featured. Also, kids (and kids at heart) could get their faces painted to resemble their favourite animal.
7) Everything Else
Just a quick round up of all the other things that caught our attention at the festival:
Free drinking water! This was advertised before the festival so people could just carry their own bottles and refill them at any given point.
You could purchase some pretty cool organic and sustainable products at the festival’s flea market.
It’s fashionable to exhibit your spirit animal and the festival gave you all the freedom to don those furry ears and onsies to strut around as your favourite animal. If you had taken tons of photos in your attire and added them to social with the #AnimalInYou, you might have also gotten featured.
The parking was charged, which was the only thing that did not sit too well with us. Also, the lane discipline while riding out was quite unruly.
Rest stops were in plenty. The walk from one stage to another was quite a bit, so we appreciated that there were enough spots around to just plonk ourselves. Oh, and those hammocks had everyone fighting for a free space.
All in all, Echoes Of Earth have really carved a niche for themselves in the Indian festival circuit. It’s 4th edition was a rewarding experience for all the attendees and we hope to get many more editions down the years.