Rann of Kutch Gets its First Indie Music Festival, and it’s Free Entry!

Aswekeepsearching. Photo: Courtesy of Into The Void – Rann Chapter

The last two months of 2016 witnessed a bunch of festivals, both old and new, held across the country, attracting crowds in big numbers. The New Year continues this spirit of festivity with a host of (clashing) events lined up in the coming few weeks. This month will witness three big fests during the Republic Day long weekend itself: GOAT in Goa, Talbeliya in Shekhawati, Rajasthan and Ranthambore Festival at the famous national park in the state. Next month has in store the fourth edition of VH1 Supersonic in Pune (February 10th-12th), Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai (February 11th-12th) as well as a new event in the breathtaking Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, titled Into The Void ”“ Rann Chapter (held on the same weekend).

Into The Void ”“ Rann Chapter is the first indie music festival to be held in the area. The acts slated to perform include Chennai rock bands Junkyard Groove, Skrat and The F16s, indie rock band Thermal and a Quarter from Bengaluru, Kolkata-based pop-rock band The Ganesh Talkies, Mumbai’s pop band Ankur & The Ghalat Family and as well as Gujarat’s own modern post-rock band Aswekeepsearching and others.

Apart from its spectacular location and tempting lineup, another reason why it might just become this New Year’s biggest music gathering is the fact it is free entry. Attendees will have to register on insider.in, with requests stopping at the first 10,000 people.

On why the festival is free, organizer Mehul Mittra says, “Money should not be a barrier for music lovers to enjoy it. So we decided to pay the artists, but not charge the people. We managed to make the festival self-sustaining, but not money making with the support of our sponsors.”

The artists will perform across one stage with the festival kicking off at four in the evening going right up until midnight. Apart from music, festival-goers will get to take part in activities ranging from painting workshops to nature trails.

Mittra has curated a few local small-scale events related to music in the past and has been supporting the local music scene in Ahmedabad for a few years now. The organizer, who wanted to move onto bigger ventures, says, “We wanted to work on the ideology of music and not the practicality, hence the festival.” The festival will have no electronic music as Mittra feels that the live music culture is dying out due to the frenzied electronic music scene. He says, “Electronic music is at its peak getting its due recognition, though live artists are definitely not getting their credit, especially the independent musicians.” He adds, “Therefore, no electronic music.”

Located at a distance of 85 kilometers from the nearest town Bhuj, the camping music festival will offer tents at Rs. 3,000 for two people, Rs. 5,500 for four people and Rs. 8,000 for six people.

The second edition of the festival will be held at the same time next year at a new location. Stay tuned for more details.

Register here. For more details click here.