Ragasthan is a three-day desert camping music festival held in November in Rajasthan, India."8 unique music festivals in India worth taking leave for". India Today, August 27, 2015 The festival provides an experience of camping in the deserts of Jaisalmer,"Gig guide". Mid-day, By Moeena Halim | 30-Dec-2012"Rocking the countryside". Telegraph India, December 28, 2014 combined with multiple genres of music played on four stages, film, art, photography and various outdoor activities such as paintball, sand-surfing and zorbing."Will travel for music? Nine cool Indian music festivals to attend". Somya Singh, Hindustan Times, New Delhi | May 22, 2015 Music on the four main stages runs concurrently: the Morio stage features pop, rock and alternative rock acts; the Ammara stage features electronic and dubstep music; the Olun stage features world music, fusion, folk and classical musicians; and the Open Mic stage features singer-songwriter bands and artists.
History Festival founder Keith Menon first proposed the idea for a desert festival in 2008. Planning took time, and the first Ragasthan Festival took place from November 16 to 18, 2012 at the Kanoi Dunes near the outskirts of the city of Jaisalmer"Music Festivals Popping Up in India’s Remotest Corners". New York Times, by AARTI BETIGERIDEC. 12, 2013."Attend The Ragasthan Festival In Jaisalmer, Rajasthan | Mumbai Boss" . Patrons were brought to the festival site on Ragasthan festival buses and invited to set up their own stalls at the nomad market, create art installations and jam with attending artists by campfires."Our pick of the month: Welcome to Ragasthan".Pushkar. "Ragasthan". Patrons stayed at the venue in Swiss Tents or set up tents they brought themselves. Single day passes were also available. In 2012,"Tunes of the Dunes". Indian Express Ragasthan was attended by about 6,000 fans over three days.
Ragasthan 2012 featured four music stages, one workshop zone, two film zones (tented and open air) featuring selections from the Sci-Fi Film Festival (UK), one adventure sports area, one flea-market zone, tented restaurants and bars, art installations and two camping zones (Swiss Tents and BYOT – Bring Your Own Tent). Activities like giant kite-flying, RC Plane flying, Turban-tying contests, sky-lanterns, etc. were held through the three days.. The Times of India.
Camel rides, camel carts and tractors were used as modes of transport within the festival premises."Ragasthan festival to begin on Nov 16". The Times of India."This weekend, head to Rajasthan’s Ragasthan" . Condé Nast Traveller India. Drinking water and tea were provided for free to all patrons."Music makers". 1 December 2012. In 2012 the festival was listed amon the top ten music festivals in India by Radio and Music magazine."2012: Top 10 music festivals in India". Radio and Music. The artist lineup featured more than 30 artist spread across various genres of music and varied nationalities.. Hindustan Times. Visual artist Viktor Furiani and his team, Mosquito Masala performed video-mapped live projections at the Morio and Ammara stages for the three nights.
Because of a change in the timing of the festival from November to February, there was no 2013 festival."Ragasthan Festival Pushed to February 2014". Sound Box, October 24, 2013. In 2014 the festival included a variety of art installations."15 things we loved about Ragasthan". By Anisha Rachel Oommen | Yahoo Lifestyle Entertainment – Mon 17 Feb, 2014 That year, the band Kabir Cafe played at the festival,"Kabir's words, musically". Archana Pandey, March 23, 2014. Deccan Herald. as well as pianist Christophe Chassol.“Quand tu arrives dans un nouveau pays, c’est toi qui provoques les choses”. Cheek Magazine. 19 February 2014
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