Ziro Festival of Music 2014

  India –  The third edition of Ziro Festival of Music (ZFM) is set to commence this September with off-the-block offering for all music-lovers. ZFM aims to raise awareness of northeast India and bring it into the mainstream consciousness of the country through music, art and culture. It is hosted by the Apatani tribe people at Ziro, a beautiful, serene valley in central Arunachal Pradesh and supported by the local and state government. Anup Kutty, Co-Founder – ZFM says, “After the success of the previous two editions, we have decided to let the fun and music spill over to an extra day. This year will also see a lot more folk artists from across India making it an unique convergence of cultures”.

The festival has received support from the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and its Tourism Ministry is proud to host and be associated with ZFM every year. Pema Khandu, Minister for Tourism, and Art & Culture is “very pleased with the overwhelmingly stunning response that the festival has garnered not only from within the country but across the world after only two years”. Being a big fan of music he quotes Plato, “Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything”.

 

 A local Apatani man in the traditional dress  © Shiv Ahuja

The second edition in September 2013 saw world famous American artists like Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley of the erstwhile Sonic Youth, some of the biggest independent acts in the country like Uday Benegal’s Whirling Kalapas and popular rock, folk acts from the northeast region. This is the only festival in the world that brings together such myriad cultures from across the world. This year Living Dreams, an Arunachal-based trust that documents and promotes local culture, and Pepsi MTV Indies, the world’s largest indie platform have come onboard to support the  festival.

This festival is as much about the local experience as the music. It calls out to compassionate music-lovers and tourists to spend four blissful days living with the Apatanis and soaking in the sounds and stories around them. It is a chance for the northeast and the rest of the India to understand, experience and enjoy its diversity and rich ethnic culture.

  Festival Goers. © Shiv Ahuja

     

         ARTIST LINE-UP

• Laxmi Bomb
• Madboy Mink
• The Supersonics
• Ganesh Talkies
• Yesterdrive
• Tank Bund
• Still Dirty
• Ska Vengers
• The Vinyl Records
• Street Stories
• We The Giants
• Freddy’s Nightmare
• The Shakey Rays
• Imphal Talkies
• Indus Creed
• Omak Komut Collective
• Superfuzz
• Five8
• Tajdar Junaid
• Feyago
• Your Chin
• Maya Moh + Muteverb
• Suman Sridhar
• Avi and The Uprising
• Tetseo Sisters
• Rewben Mashangva
• Taba Chake
• Rida and The Musical Folks
• Sajda Sisters featuring Neel

The third edition of Ziro Festival of Music will be a four-day festival from the 25–28th of September, 2014.