Some of India’s most iconic and celebrated music festivals will return in the final months of 2022. A music festival blossoming in the hills of the northeast of India, festivals housed at the palaces in the desert dunes of India’s western region, a music festival that prides itself on its sustainable initiatives, India’s ultimate techno fest, and a debuting music festival at the turn of the year that has something in store for fans of all music genres. Every music festival features a diverse range of established artists, emerging talent, and first-time performers, providing these artists with much-needed stage experience early in their careers.
Below is a list of music festivals in India, along with some details about them, that will take place in the coming months.
The Hills Festival
The Lum ‘Er Pyngngad grounds in the picturesque hills of Meghalaya is the site of The Hills Festival. It is a two-day festival that spotlights local talent as well as established artists and celebrates the spirit of Meghalaya. The Hills Festival will take place on November 4 and 5, 2022, and will feature four stages with acts from various musical genres. Slated performers include techno, deep house, afro house, nu disco, and progressive house DJ Glafira, hip-hop producer Karan Kanchan, rapper HanuMankind, folk-rock group Featherheads, and Indian folk metal band Bloodywood.
The Hills Festival will be set across four stages, and the venue will also host local businesses by featuring their workshops and stalls.
For more information check out The Hills Festival on Facebook | Instagram
Independence Rock
The legendary Independence Rock festival is returning after a nine-year hiatus, and we are all for it! This edition will take place on November 5 and 6, 2022, at the breathtaking Bayview Lawns at the sea’s edge at Princess Dock in Mazgaon. Indus Creed, Pentagram, Parikrama, Bloodywood, Avial, Bombay Bandook (the winners of Tomorrow’s Headliners), and many other veteran rock bands are set to perform at this year’s I-Rock.
Veteran music journalist and columnist Amit Gurbaxani wrote about the return of the Independence Rock festival in his column, saying, “For Indian independent music fans of a certain vintage, and especially those based in Mumbai, Independence Rock wasn’t just the biggest indie music festival, it was pretty much the only one. And it remained so from its launch in 1986 until the early 2010s when events such as the Bacardi NH7 Weekender debuted.”
For more information head on over to I-Rock’s website HERE
Locals DISTRICT
Locals DISTRICT bills itself as “India’s first none of its kind Techno Music Festival.” Its fourth edition will be held at the majestic Ram Bihari Palace in the ancient city of Alwar, in the desert state of Rajasthan. This three-day techno music extravaganza will take place beginning on November 11, 2022, and will feature a diverse range of talent in techno music and its subgenres. Announced so far in the lineup are electronic music producers Rico Casazza, Justine Perry, Greg, and Voitek, best known as the techno outfit Catz ‘n Dogz, Reverse Osmosis, Pranavi Walia aka Vasvi, Technaari, Sublimation, the festival’s co-founder and director Vijay Kumar aka Mister.K, among others.
Locals DISTRICT will be set across five stages. The festival will also showcase graffiti artists, environmentally friendly organic apparel stores, tattoo and body artists, art installations, a flea bazaar, and much more!
Check out Locals DISTRICT on Facebook | Instagram
Also taking place in Rajasthan is the Ranthambhore Music & Wildlife Festival – a celebration of music, wildlife, culture, and equality on November 11 and 12, perched at the Nahargarh Palace in Ranthambhore. The likes of Lisa Mishra, Nikhita Gandhi, Dream Note, Martin Dubois, Nigel Rajaratnam, Sharan Punjabi aka Tansane, and many more are scheduled to perform.
Rajasthan’s Alsisar Mahal will house the returning Magnetic Fields Festival, slated for December 9–11, 2022.
BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender
Bacardi NH7 Weekender, touted as “India’s Happiest Music Festival” returns to its home turf in Pune for its 2022 edition. It will be housed at Mahalaxmi Lawns from November 25 to 27, 2022. NH7 Weekender will gather over forty indie and international acts fanned out on its five stages. Folk-rock outfit The Lumineers, Rnb, soul, jazz, funk trio Dirty Loops, and rapper Destin Choice Route, best known as JID, are set to headline the festival.
As shared on Rolling Stone India, singer-songwriter Saachi, rock group Fox In The Garden, duo Gouri and Aksha, and singer-songwriter Rudy Mukta will be among the first-time performers at the festival. TFword’s very own MC PEP will be performing on stage along with her hip-hop collective, Wild Wild Women.
For more information, visit the NH7 website HERE
Echoes of Earth Festival
Billed as “India’s greenest music festival,” Echoes of Earth is an upcoming two-day celebration of music, art, and culture. This festival will take place on December 3 and 4, 2022, at the Embassy International Riding School in Bangalore. Announced for the festival are Afro-funk and jazz fusion band Many Roots Ensemble, house duo Baalti, music producer Anish Sood under the alias Anyasa, alternative RnB and classical jazz musician Tara Lily, electronic music outfit Kerala Dust, and celebrated singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Toure to name a few
Echoes of Earth festival honors the earth through meaningful design, art, and music. The festival is curated by the organizers across five verticals, with sustainable goals at the forefront. U-Solar Clean Energy’s solar-powered stages and charging stations will be featured in the upcoming fifth edition. The ‘Circle of Life’ is the theme for this year.
For more information visit Echoes of Earth’s official website
Discover Echoes of Earth playlist on Spotify
DGTL India
“New Delhi and Mumbai, we are coming! We’ll be back in December, bigger than ever. This year we double the fun with not one but two editions in New Delhi at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and Mumbai at Nesco Centre,” This announcement in May 2022 was enough to send festival goers and the comment sections into a frenzy. DGTL festival will return to India, hosting two events, one in the country’s capital of Delhi and another in Mumbai. The Delhi edition is slated for December 9 and 10, while the Mumbai edition will take place on December 10 and 11, 2022.
Amaya, Blawan, Denis Horvat, Deep Brown, Ki/ki, Mutable Mercury, Anyasa, BLOT!, Sequ3l, Tijana T, Lee-Ann Roberts, Viridian, Sublime Sound, and Dubfire are among the artists performing at DGTL India. Also set to perform at the festival are music producers Solomun, Maribou State, SPFDJ, Giolì & Assia, and Toto Chiavetta. DGTL has also announced a Boiler Room takeover with an exclusive stage at each edition during the festival.
DGTL is known for avoiding single-use plastics and curating events that prioritize sustainability and eco-friendly initiatives.
For more information on DGTL Delhi, click here
For more information on DGTL Mumbai, click here
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Sunburn Festival
Sunburn festival will close out 2022, spanning three days between December 28 and 30. The theme for its sixteenth edition is ‘The Future Is Now’, and the festival will take place at Vagator, Goa. Sunburn 2022 will feature over 120 international and local acts across 7 stages, including Afrojack, Duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, Nicky Romero, Lost Frequencies, Morten, Red Axes, duo Thom Jongkind and Idir Makhlaf under the alias Blasterjaxx, Justus, MEMBA, and others.
Sunburn will also offer a live stream called Sunburn Home for those who wish to attend remotely. There will also be a food and beverage village, a flea market, an open-air cinema, bungee jumping, a zip line, a ferris wheel, and other activities at the festival.
More information on Sunburn Festival can be found HERE
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Lollapalooza India
A couple of days after India celebrates its Republic Day on January 26, the city of Mumbai is most likely to come to a halt once again between January 28 and 29, 2023. This can be chalked down to the highly anticipated Lollapalooza Music Festival’s debut in India. India will become only the sixth different country to host the festival. Lollapalooza will congregate over two days at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse grounds in Mumbai, assembling four stages and over forty different acts.
Even without the announcement of a single performer, the sale of early bird tickets for Lollapalooza created a storm online, causing the booking system to collapse, and compelling the organizers to apologize to the customers. All of this happened in a matter of four hours!
But after months of speculation and hearsay, Lollapalooza India has finally dropped its artist lineup for the 2023 music festival, which includes headliners Imagine Dragons and The Strokes, who will be performing in the country for the first time. India’s finest artists – Sandunes, Tejas, F16s, Bombay Brass, Easy Wanderlings, Divine, Prateek Kuhad, etc., are also slated to perform over the first edition of the two-day festival.
Read more about the lineup HERE
