2012 will see a wide range of music festivals in India. From multi-stage, multi-day events to travelling festivals to single-day affairs, the first three months of the new year have something for every kind of music fan. Here’s the NH7 guide to the upcoming music festivals in India between January and March!
JANUARY
Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival, Pan-India
Saturday, January 7 – Monday, January 16
Artists to watch: Dr L Subramaniam, Solo Cissokho, Miya Masaoko
Acclaimed Chennai violinist, conductor, and composer Dr L Subramaniam will play the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival, now in its twentieth year running with performances by musicians spanning five continents. The lineup includes his wife and singer Kavita Krishanmurti Subramaniam, his son and violinist Ambi Subramaniam along with Senegalese kora master Solo Cissokho, Japanese-American koto player Miya Masaoka, and Tunisian singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef. The tour started in Bangalore today (Jan 7), and will move on to Chennai (Jan 9), Ahmedabad (Jan 11), Mumbai (Jan 13), Pune (Jan 14), Trivandrum (Jan 15), and Kollam (Jan 16).
More information about LGMF is available here.
National Youth Festival, Mangalore
Thursday, January 12 to Monday, January 16
Artists to watch: The Raghu Dixit Project, Lesle Lewis, Sivamani
The National Youth Festival in Mangalore is a five-day extravaganza with not just music, but other cultural events lined up as well. One of the first events on the gig calendar, the lineup boasts of acts such as The Raghu Dixit Project, Colonial Cousins, Euphoria and Sivamani and Troupe. The festival also has several other events such as classical music events, elocutions, photography contests and one act plays.
Register for the event here.
Chennai Global Music Festival, Chennai
Friday, January 13 – Sunday, January 15
Artists to watch: Susheela Raman, Junkyard Groove, Indus Creed
One of the biggest events on the gig calender, just going by the number of artists and its scale, takes place in Chennai later this week. Acts like Junkyard Groove, the reunion of Null Friction and a array of artists from across the globe including France, Sweden, Reunion Islands, USA, and Malaysia will collaborate with seasoned musicians from Chennai, Bengal, and Rajasthan.
The event will be held from January 13 to 15, at Express Mall, Chennai. Donor passes will be available for Rs 200, executive enclosure passes for Rs 750 at the venues.
More deets here.
Storm Festival, Coorg
Friday, January 20 – Saturday, January 21
Artists to watch: The Raghu Dixit Project, Richard Durand, Judge Jules
Storm Festival, which was slated to take place on November 11 and 12, was postponed due to heavy rains that flooded the festival grounds. The festival will now take place between January 20 and 21, in the lush greenery of Coorg with a revised lineup – Storm will be headlined by Indian Ocean and Swarathma, and also DJ Richard Durand.
Tickets are available on BookMyShow and more details can be found here.
Jaipur Literary Festival, Jaipur
Friday, January 20 – Tuesday, January, 24
Artists to watch: Gods Robots, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Parvathy Baul
As with previous years, the 2012 edition of the Jaipur Literary Festival will feature several music events. Scheduled for January 20 to 24, the festival will host the Jaipur Kawa Brass Band, poetry by Jeet Thayil (of Sridhar/Thayil) and Tishan Doshi, and popular baul musician Parvathy Baul. The festival will also feature a “Coke Studio” performance, but no details have been announced yet.
Check out the entire schedule, and other details here.
York Live Festival, Nashik
January 21
Artists to watch: Karsh Kale, ShriLektric, Something Relevant
Set in the idyllic York Winery in Nashik, the second edition of the York Live Festival will be headlined by multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Karsh Kale (who also curated the NH7 All-Stars Set at the Bacardi NH7 Wekeender last year) on January 21. Kale is also likely to play more dates in the country (deets here). Other supporting acts include ShriLektric and Something Relevant.
More acts will be announced soon. Tickets are available on BookMyShow at Rs 900 a pop. More deets here.
1 Republic Festival
Wednesday, January 25 to Sunday, January 29
Artists to watch: B.R.E.E.D, DJ MoCity
Deriving it’s name from the venue, the 1 Republic Festival is a five-day festival hosted by 1 Lounge, Pune. Otherwise known to host metal gigs once in a while, and getting down psy trance DJs, the venue has put together a lineup of local DJs and from across the country. Spread over the five days, each day is dedicated to EDM, rock, dubstep, commercial house and psy trance respectively.
Tickets can be bought on the phone via +918888020202 or BBM on the pin 260FB167 at Rs. 1000 a head for all days. Check out their website for more deets.
Trendslaughter Fest II, Bangalore
Sunday, January 29
Artists to watch: Abigail, Gorified, Dying Embrace
The Bangalore ‘old school’ extreme metal festival is slated to take place on January 29 and has some an eclectic lineup of metal bands set to perform over one evening at the Kyra theatre. Acts scheduled to perform at the afternoon / early evening show are Djinn & Miskatonic, Dwesha, Gorified, Cauchemar, Dying Embrace and Abigail (the Japanese black metallers call themselves “the most evil band in Japan”).
Tickets are priced at Rs 500 and more details can be found here.
FEBRUARY
UnBox Festival, New Delhi
Thursday, February 02 – Sunday, February 05
Artists to watch: Nucleya, Bay Beat Collective, DJ Uri
The Unbox Festival is an interdisciplinary festival that incorporates conferences, fellowships, events and other partner festivals. According to their Facebook page, UnBox is a “festival of action at the intersections of different disciplines and ways of life.” The festival brings four days of ideas, stories, spectacles, and exchange. Slated to take place from February 2 to 5, the UnBox will essentially remain the same, with newer people and newer speakers, as compared to last year’s event.
More deets here.
Spring Zouk 2012: The Island Festival, St. Mary’s Island, Malpe
Friday, February 03 – Sunday, February 05
Artists to watch: The Bicycle Days, Prem Joshua, Ma Faiza, DJ Vachan
Predominantly a DJ-dominant festival, the island festival is slated to take place in what seems to be the busiest weekend on the month, for scenesters. Located an hour and ten minutes away from Mangalore, the festival will showcase the best of “Indian and Western art, music, cuisine and culture under one umbrella.” The festival will also have a bazaar with stalls for food, clothing, accessories and multiple bars.
Tickets are available on KyaZoonga at Rs 3,500 a pop and tents can be rented out as well. For more details visit their website.
Sulafest, Nashik
Saturday, February 4 – Sunday, February 5
Artists to watch: Nitin Sawhney, Blackstratblues, Dualist Inquiry
Headlined by Nitin Sawhney, the Sula Fest returns to the Nashik vineyards for its fourth edition this February. This year, the festival will take place over two days (for the first time) and feature a vast lineup of performers including Soulmate, Papon & The East India Company and Reggae Rajahs. The festival will also host the Sulafest Bazaar, a curated selection of interesting stalls.
Tickets are now available on BookMyShow at Rs 1,800 a head. Check out our notes and reviews from last year’s edition of the festival. More details about the 2012 edition of the festival can be found here.
SummerStorm, Bangalore
Sunday, February 5
Artists to watch: Opeth, Nothnegal, SuidAkrA
Swedish progressive metal band Opeth are all set to headline Summer Storm 2012 on February 5. This was confirmed by Opeth on their official website (check out the details of the Asian leg of their Heritage world tour here) and by Summer Storm’s organizers, Overture India, on their Facebook page. Overture also recently announced that German melodic death metallers SuidAkrA and Maldivian heavy metallers Nothnegal have been added to the lineup.
Tickets are available on BookMyShow for Rs 1375 a pop. More details here.
India Surf Festival, Orissa
Tuesday, February 7 – Thursday, February 9
Surfing Yogis bring us India’s first surfing festival this February. The India Surf Festival will take place at the Puri Konark Marine Drive, Puri, Orissa. It will features surfers from around the world alongside music, movies and other non-surfing-yet-entertaining activities.
More deets here.
Baajaa Gaajaa, Pune
Friday, February 10 – Sunday, February 12
Artists to watch: Adil & Vasundhara, PINKNOISE, Soulmate
The fourth edition of Pune’s Baajaa Gaajaa returns this February with the promise of being bigger and better. While we’re awaiting further details from the organizers, the festival will see performances by the likes of New Delhi pop act Adil & Vasundhara, Calcutta experimental quartet PINKNOISE and Shillong blues giants Soulmate.
Follow Baajaa Gaajaa on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr for more details.
Mahindra Blues Festival, Mumbai
Saturday, February 11 – Sunday, February 12
Artists to watch: Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker Jr, Robert Randolph
Chicago blues veteran Buddy Guy revisits India to perform at the second edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival 2012 at the iconic Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. Alongside him will be performances by John Lee Hooker Jr (son of blues legend John Lee Hooker), funk legend Robert Randolph and Serbian blues singer Ana Popovic. Joining this blues contingent will be Henry Saint Clair Fredericks’s blues outfit, Taj Mahal Trio.
More deets here. Check out our notes from the 2011 edition of the festival.
Karbi Youth Festival, Assam
Wednesday, February 15 – Sunday, February 19
The Karbi Youth Festival, now in it’s 38th edition, takes place in Taralangso near Dhipu, Assam. Essentially based on the core values of preservation, research, documentation and promotion of the Karbis rich cultural and natural heritage, the festival also boasts of extensive music and dance programmes. Organized by the Karbi Cultural Society, it runs on donations and honest enthusiasm, free of corporate sponsorship. The festival features over 500 performances on five stages.
More here. Also, read about the 2010 edition of the festival on CNNGo.
MARCH
Eristoff Invasion Festival, Pan-India
Friday, March 09 (New Delhi) – Saturday, March 10 (Mumbai) – Sunday, March 11 (Bangalore)
Artists to watch: David Guetta
Grammy-winning artist/producer/DJ David Guetta will headline the 2012 edition of the Eristoff Invasion festival. Rated by DJ Mag as the #1 DJ in the world, Guetta will play his first live gigs in India at the festival, which will hit three cities this year – New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Tickets and other details will be available soon. Also, check out the official Eristoff Invasion website, Twitter feed and Facebook page for updates.
Area 79 Festival
Thursday, March 8 to Sunday, March 11.
Artists to watch: Shaa’ir + Func, Midival Punditz, The Ska Vengers
Set in the Himalayas, the Area 79 music festival is a mix of music and other events. With three stages and spread over three days and four nights, the festival has several trance DJs, electronica artists and a host of other bands. The activities planned for the event also include paintball, sculpting, impromptu performance areas and even a meditation area.
Check out the entire lineup and other details here.
UPDATE: The Area79 festival has been postponed to the last week of October owing to the declaration of the Punjab Legislative Election results from March 6 to March 9. Read the entire statement here.
Did we miss a festival? Let us know in the comments or mail us at kvlt at nh7 dot in
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