Kolkata’s Latest Music Festival East.Wav Takes Place on a Ship

It’s March and the music festival season is still in full gear, even out in Kolkata. But rather than finding a venue for a day-long electronic music festival, the organizers of East.Wav have tied up with waterways company Vivada Cruises and will host eight artists aboard a ship anchored in the Hooghly river on March 8th.

The lineup includes seasoned techno DJ-producer Kohra, Thailand’s acid house DJ-producer Sunju Hargun, Mumbai-based house/electro producer Kini Rao, electronic music producer-DJ Zokhuma (who recently released his new EP Trice), Kolkata funk/disco artist Deep Brown, techno producer 8-Bit Culprit and electro-pop duo Paloma & Adil, plus a dub/reggae set from DJ Smoke Signal aka Nishit Arora.

Co-organizer Vinay Daswani says that East.Wav has been in the works for about two months. He adds, “The biggest challenge is doing it in the middle of the river and not on land. Also it’s many of us who’ve come together for the first time to work on something like this and having everyone’s opinions and differences shaping the gig is the biggest boon but also a big challenge.”

Tickets start at Rs. 499 for students with valid ID, Rs. 750 for “early risers” who will have to enter before 5 pm and Rs 1,000 for regular entry. While it’s a 500-capacity dancefloor aboard M.V. The Auspicious, there’s visual panels and a sundowner set from Deep Brown. Daswani however says East.Wav “aims to be a regular event, but not necessarily on the boat every time.”

East.Wav Music Festival takes place on March 8th, at Vivada Cruises in Kolkata. Get tickets here. Event details here.