Ragasthan, Where You Unbelong
Ragasthan unique and yet somewhat, mercurial, is a 3-daydesert camping festival where music, art, cinema, adventure, culture come together under an interrupted canopy of stars, a majestically stark landscape and a total sense of letting go of daily life – to simply, unbelong.
Brought together by a group of passionate individuals – Keith Menon, Supriya Sobti, Anshuman Jeswal& Sanmeet Singh – the vision behind the festival is to get people to visit the great outdoors and unite them with the universal language of music and art. To create a platform that showcases great new talent, an engagement with art, culture and adventure – not just adventure of sports, but the great adventure of being on the road, sleeping under the stars, feeling the desert chill and warming up with hot chai, meeting people from different places and walks of life and listening to music you love or better yet, will fall in love with.
The Festival has 3 music stages – Morio (which means Peacock in the local language) is grand, theatrical and showcases Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, World Music and more. Birakha (‘rain’ in the local language) is the more personal stage, which gives closer access to performers and showcases Indie, Singer-Song Writers and experimental artists through the afternoon into sunset. Then there’s Ammara (‘shining star’ in the local dialect) – the only way to stay warm at night is to find yourself dancing the night away where DJ’s and live acts from across the electronic music spectrum spin some of the grooviest dance tunes. With over 40 performances – and no overlapping stages you get a chance to catch each act live.
An integral part of Ragasthan, is camp life – where late night bonfires, open air movie screenings, artists and festival goers spontaneously jamming together are a common sight. Not to mention, the hot air balloon rides, rolling down soft sand dunes, crazy art installations including a 40 foot see-saw, workshops and off-course star gazing at a spectacular night sky (we counted more than a 100 shooting stars) all come together for a magical holistic festival experience.
As an effort to leave the space pristine and respect for the desert, Ragasthan provides free water and chai to everybody at the festival. Festival goers are given thermos flasks to reduce plastic and wastage and the space is cleaned responsibly after the festival is over. With a 0-plastic bottle and plates policy we pride ourselves in ensuring that we use minimum electricity as well to power the festival and do not waste any non-potable water either.
Touted as the Burning Man of the East, Ragasthan is a feat of extraordinary. Setting up here means, creating a temporary township with electricity and running water in the middle of a desert – 52km of cabling, 87,000 litre’s water, 5,000 litres of free tea, an army of adventure seeking volunteers and a common unifying spirit to create an unforgettable experience for all who visit.
Life in the desert is spirit lifting but it is also arduous. The desert sun pitted against the full moon will embolden your spirits, the terrain will test your limits but the spectacle, the deciduous celebration of life that unfolds within, can only make you regret you missed it last time around.Don’t let that happen again.
What: Ragasthan Music Festival
Where: Thar Desert, Jaisalmer
When: 23-25 February 2018
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