Guwahati Gets a New Festival: Forkaal

Two years ago, Guwahati-based event company LAC Group started curating concept gigs with the intention of exploring the depths of human imaginations. After the success of their 2016 showcase ”˜Through My Mind’ (which featured performances by Guwahati-based bands such as alt rockers Jupiter Island, blues outfit Street Blues and Hindi rock group Northeast Diaries), the next step for LAC Group was to organize a concept-based music festival. The organizers built a strong story format and thus was born, Forkaal Music Festival, which will be held on September 23rd-24th at Khanapara Veterinary Ground in Guwahati.

LAC Group, Event Manager, Bandeep Rabha explains the concept behind the festival, “It showcases an individual’s encounter with his own darkness and his journey beyond searching an escape.” Rabha explains that Forkaal is an Assamese word which means, “The clear sky after the rain and thunder.”

The two-day festival is divided into two themes; The Dark Night for day one and Clear Night Sky for day two. The acts slated to perform on day one are metal-centric–Mumbai metallers Demonic Resurrection, Bengaluru metal outfit Kryptos, Kolkata prog metal act What Escapes Me and Guwahati’s own metal band Dark Carnage. Polish death metallers Vader are set to headline day one. Day two will witness performances by Mumbai dream-pop duo LANDS (previously known as Nicholson), Mumba/Pune post-rock group Aswekeepsearching, Shillong rockers Dossers Urge and more.

On what festival-goers can expect at the festival, Rabha says, “We will be presenting a mechanized story version of the philosophy in the festival. People can come expecting different genres of music with a trippy and beautiful environment, meet music lovers from all over the North East and other parts of India.”

Tickets for the festival are now available, with day passes for INR 700 and season passes for INR 1000. The organizers want to expand the festival to other parts of the North East in the near future as they feel that the North East is the next big music hub of South Asia. “(We) hope it will get bigger with time,” says Rabha.

Buy tickets for Forkaal here.