Whilst Eating, Drinking and Making Merry
While in Ziro, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, having fun is a way of life. Fun that is also environmentally responsible and nature friendly. The Ziro Festival of Music is based on these very lines. Eating, drinking and making merry are the three things, or rather the only things that one is supposed to indulge in, while at the Ziro Festival of Music.
We all know about the revolution that the Woodstock Music Festival started in 1960's America. It had to do with the openness and the beauty of the area where it took place. A music festival in a place as picturesque as Ziro, is enough to make a music lover's mind wander into uncharted territory. Thoughts of freedom and peace can only originate from a mind that has felt freedom and peace in its purest form. This is exactly what Ziro offers.
This year Ziro saw India's top music acts, with genres ranging from folk fusion to electro dance and post rock to indie rock, with the very best of India's artistes like Shaa'ir n Func, Peter Cat Recording Company, Menwhopause and SkyRabbit.
Adding to this great variety of musicians, there were numerous performers from the Northeastern part of the country, including folk acts and indie rock projects. Dayglocrazie, Guru Rewben Mashangva, Omak Komut Collective, Purple Fusion and Imphal Talkies were a few bands and artistes who showcased the feel and the sound of the land.
For people not as interested in the new, experimental style of music, Northeastern bands like The Vinyl Records, Polar Lights, Frisky Pints and Digital Suicide kept the crowds banging their heads to their beat.
In addition to this overload of music, the headlining act this year, which was Lee Ronaldo, Steve Shelley and the Dust from the United States, blasted the fans with their old school rock. The ex-members of Sonic Youth enthralled their audience with the feel of nostalgia in their music.
The excitement did not end there. With food stalls serving an array of exotic cuisines and dishes from all over the Northeast, first-timers were amazed by the variety and the flavour of the food.
A camp set up nearby by Vagabond Expeditions also kept the spirits high through the days and nights of the festival. The cultural learning and exchange of ideas that happened at the Ziro Festival of Music was astonishing. But more interestingly, the fine line between learning and laughter was totally blurred.
Music fans who made it to Ziro at the end of September 2013 definitely considered themselves lucky and had an experience of a lifetime...
If only they can stop themselves from visiting the Ziro Festival of Music again next year.
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
