Bengaluru’s very own music festival is back! Hosted amidst the green outskirts of the city, Echoes of Earth will be held on 7^th and 8^th December 2019; artists like Acid Pauli, Shigeto, La P’tite Fumee, Garden City Movement, Betoko and Natasha Diggs performing this year.

Each year, the festival follows a unique theme to spread awareness about the environment and protect species through not just the music, but also the pre-event workshops, panel discussions, film screenings and much more. What’s more is the entire festival is largely produced using upcyled and recycled concepts that are seen as the large stages or installations.

With their theme “The Sanctuary” this year, Echoes of Earth will be paying ode to endangered species in India and across the world. You might even spot the lion-tailed macaque, the gharial, the Jeypore Gecko, or the One-horned rhino here!

GlobalSpa engages in conversation with Roshan Netalkar, Festival Director, Echoes of Earth, and delves more to explore what the greenest festival in India is all about. Take a look:

1. Tell us about the inception of Echoes of Earth, Music Festival.

The idea was to design a music festival which not only introduces great music from around the world to the Indian audience, which is evolving in its music taste, we also wanted Echoes of Earth to stand for something more. Living in Bangalore, we are currently experiencing rapid erosion of natural resources right in front of our eyes. It is therefore the need of the hour to wake up and start creating a responsible ecosystem. This thought became the driving force behind Echoes of Earth. Music is universal and hence we decided to use it as a platform to spread the message of an eco-aware way of life.

2. Over the years how has Echoes of Earth Music Festival evolved? Tell us about your major milestones.

Our endeavour has been to inspire a more sustainable  lifestyle through music. We focused on four elements – energy, water, waste and production as our key areas, and have adopted ways to use these elements as sustainably as possible. We also implemented a strict leave no trace policy, ensuring no harm was made to our festival grounds, and the grounds were left as we found it.

We further implemented this in the festival by choosing to build our stages with recycled and upcycled materials – the fact that we were able to pull that off was a feat. At the core of Echoes of Earth Music Festival was to have great Indian & International music. It was a risk choosing not to go with mainstream genres and acts in our debut year and we weren’t sure of the audience’s reception. However, we are now happy to say that the music acts were met with an overwhelming response. We are very encouraged by this – that the Indian audience is ready and open to new sounds and genres from across the world.

Echoes of Earth has evolved in its messaging and what it stands for. Today, we are talking about more than just a sustainable lifestyle, and have been able to do this with our theme every year. Each theme has been a huge milestone for us, as we have been able to put forth a lot of issues that need immediate attention, and have created awareness for the same. With Bugs of the eco-system, to Wonders of the Deep, and now the Sanctuary – we have come a long way. Each theme has given us the opportunity to showcase more and more.

This has only been possible with the response from our audiences, which has doubled over the years. This is our biggest milestone – seeing more and more people receive a concept like this so positively.

3. This year the theme is ‘The Sanctuary’ tell us more about it?

This year, with our theme ‘The Sanctuary’ we celebrate the endangered species of flora and fauna in our world. As part of our awareness campaigns, we have organised urban wildlife workshops, campus modules with film screenings, green hackathons, panel discussions and much more. The idea is to create awareness and a connect between people and our unique biodiversity.

The theme will also translate to our stage design, art installations and thematics. We are very excited to see this come together. In fact, the response so far to our workshops and campus modules have been really positive. We’re  happy to see so many people taking a step towards understanding their surroundings and protecting it.

4. What are the various pre-event programs for students that they can be involved in?

There is so much to be highlighted with our theme the Sanctuary. Hence, this year we have a long list of pre-events for all ages. These include workshops like bird watching, nature journaling, tide pool walks, etc. We will also be hosting panel discussions in conversation with Nat Geo explorers and wildlife conservationists.

Echoes will also be visiting colleges with Nat Geo film screenings, interactive sessions, green hackathons. Apart from our pre-event activations, Echoes of Earth also has a volunteer program open to people of all ages. Through this, we also encourage students from art colleges to be a part of our art installations and stage design production. To reach out for the volunteer program, you can write to [email protected].

5. On a personal level, what do you do to protect the environment or support the cause?

I grew up in a small town with nature in my backyard. I feel this has played a huge role in how I see the world today. I make sure to surround myself with nature and plants – beit our office space or my home in the city. With the amount of research we have had to do for Echoes of Earth, it has definitely rubbed off and has made me more conscious about my actions and the spaces around me. In fact, Everything I do today is as minimal as possible , including my designs and briefs!

Of course, there are the basic important changes like zero plastic, eating seasonal, segregating and composting waste, and more that I try to practice everyday. The whole process is about unlearning what we know and what we  are used to, and being open to change.

6. We all know art is a great medium to promote anything, how has it helped in bringing such a big awareness in case of the Echoes of Earth. (tell us about the artist who has collaborated for the various installations)

Echoes is built on the spirit of collaboration. Echoes has been able to turn junk and discarded material into beautiful, never seen before designs, and this has only been possible with our artists. Knowing the power that art has, this has been a very strong form of communication for us.

Through our art installations we have been able to highlight and create awareness of endangered species, sustainable methods and our eco-system as a whole.

In the past we have collaborated with artists like Sidharta Kararwal, Bheemaiah, etc who have helped us put these installations together. We are really looking forward to executing our theme ‘The Sanctuary’ this year, and can’t wait to see the festival take form of the magnificent creatures . Some animals you can expect to see at the festival are The Hangul, The Indian Vulture, The Peacock Spider, the Jeypore Gecko, and more!

7. Artists one can look forward to at the Echoes of Earth Music Festival?

Personally, I am really looking forward to Shigeto Live Ensemble and his diverse sounds of jazz, hip hop and electronica. A moving act to look forward to is Daniel Waples and Flavio Lopez, which will be a blend of the handpan and the violin. Another exciting act is  Acid Pauli. Being one of the biggest names in underground music, we are super excited to be hosting him in India for the first time. Also looking forward to Lifafa and his ethereal voice that takes one back to 80s bollywood music with a twist of modern sounds. We can’t wait to see these sounds come together!