Billed as a ‘green festival,’ Echoes of Earth kicked off its three-city tour in Bangalore, followed by Mumbai and Delhi. The theme in the South Indian city of Bangalore was discovery and celebration of the city’s freshwater ecosystem.
The festival series blends music, folk art, photo exhibits, and education, with a focus on the importance of protecting natural heritage. The sixth edition of the festival in Bangalore was held at Jayamahal Palace.
The Bangalore concert was held in association with WWF. It promotes responsible celebration through the lens of conservation and sustenance of the planet. Participants are educated on how they can do their bit in the conservation and management of the water ecosystem.
Regional bird species like Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) are under threat as well, and the festival showcased restoration stories by local activists preserving biodiversity. British nu jazz collective The Cinematic Orchestra was the closing act.
Roshan Netalkar, Festival Director of Echoes of Earth and Managing Director at Swordfish Events & Entertainment, joins us in this interview on the vision and accomplishments of the festival, and message to the audience.
Q: What were the themes of the earlier festivals? What was the vision behind choosing the current theme?
A: The Echoes of Earth festival was founded in 2016 with the initial idea of bringing together great Indian and international music on one platform. However, we wanted the festival to stand for something more than just music, and hence decided to use it as a platform to promote a larger message of conservation and sustainability of the earth.
From the outset, the festival’s core focus was sustainability, and in 2017, we introduced the first theme, The Bugs of the Ecosystem. It highlighted the importance of small creatures in our environment through art installations and other means.
The following year, we evolved our thinking and chose marine conservation as the theme, which coincided with India hosting World Environment Day, with a focus on plastic pollution. We also worked closely with NGOs to promote this cause.
In 2019, the organizers wanted to take their conservation efforts to the next level, and chose the theme Sanctuary, which focused on endangered species in India and around the world. We partnered with organizations like UNEP, WWF, and Felis Creations as content partners, who helped us bring this theme to life. The festival featured a lot of workshops for kids and on-ground bird-watching activations across India.
In 2022, the theme of the festival was Circle of Life, which emphasized the importance of living in symbiosis with nature, not just in forests and water bodies but also in urban areas.
For example, in Mumbai, there is a lot of wildlife around, even in areas like Marine Drive. This year, we are continuing with the Circle of Life theme, and featured the Cinematic Orchestra. The focus remains on promoting conservation and sustainability through music and art.
Q: How did the fifth edition differ from earlier editions?
A: This year, we scaled up the festival to reach a wider audience across the country. We organized smaller events in seven states and there were mini concerts in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. We partnered with more credible organizations to promote our conservation efforts.
As part of our sustainability initiatives, we will be planting a sapling and taking care of it for each ticket sold at mini concerts and the larger festival. From a production standpoint, we were able to reuse almost all the resources we had procured from the past years, with only 10% of new resources used for this year’s festival.
We have increased our solar output to power the entire solar flea markets and food court, and 20% of the festival is powered by solar, compared to 8% in the previous edition. We have also introduced a steel cup and reduced our waste output, despite having 20,000 people attending the festival.
We are constantly striving to improve and make the festival more sustainable. Our goal is to eventually become a carbon-neutral festival. Every year is a learning process, and we are committed to promoting conservation and sustainability through music and art.
Q: What was the selection criteria for choosing the bands?
A: The Earth festival has always aimed to bring in new-gen music to the country. The selection process takes a whole year, and the acts that are chosen go with the ethos of our festival and are usually eclectic in nature.
For the coming years, we are in conversation with a lot of bands from across the world and the country, and we will be revealing bigger acts in the coming months. We also plan on taking the festival to another city in a large format event, which we will disclose soon.
Q: Tell us more about The Cinematic Orchestra, and their compositions for the festival.
A: The Cinematic Orchestra has always been special to us. We have been eyeing them for more than a couple of years now, and after the pandemic, they have really come back. The idea is that they create very atmospheric music, and Echoes of Earth is all about nature.
We want to take people on a journey through music. They are also known for their original compositions and have done soundtracks for movies and TV series like Grey’s Anatomy. It was something we really wanted to bring to the festival, and we think it’s a great opportunity. We will be able to host them in three cities, which is even better.
Q: What were the themes of the workshops? Who was conducting them?
A: For each city in the three-city tour, there was a specific environmental issue that is being addressed through panel discussions and workshops. For Bangalore, the focus was on freshwater conservation and lake conservation, with Felis Creation and RoundGlass Sustain participating.
For Mumbai, the focus was on mangroves and the coastline, with WWF, RoundGlass Sustain, and Mumba Magic participating. And for Delhi, the focus was on urban jungles and biodiversity, with WWF and RoundGlass Sustain leading the workshops.
Q: When was Swordfish Events founded?
A: Swordfish was founded in 2010 and initially, we focused on design, working with a variety of multinational companies. Brand management and experiential design have always been areas of interest for us. We have worked all over the world, including the Middle East and parts of Europe.
Currently, we work with a lot of brands, creating intellectual properties for them. We’re also working on launching more IPs in the coming years.
Q: What are your tips or advice for musicians on how to promote the green movement?
A: It’s one thing to talk about being eco-friendly, and another thing to actually do it. As musicians travel frequently, they contribute greatly to carbon emissions, especially through air travel.
At Swordfish, we are currently working on a model to make these artists carbon neutral. We are in the testing phase, but we plan to adopt a large land piece and revive it in collaboration with an NGO. The idea is to choose a few artists and make them carbon neutral through this initiative.
The basic tip for artists is to be minimal in their approach. When traveling, they can limit their entourage and only travel with one or two people, instead of large bands that may have 10-20 people traveling. By doing so, they can significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
Q: What is your message to the audience?
A: Regarding a message to the audience, especially when attending large festivals and events, we encourage everyone to be mindful of their use of single-use plastics. Try to share caps with your friends and limit unnecessary waste. Let’s all do our part to reduce our impact on the environment!
Author: Madanmohan Rao
Madanmohan Rao is an author and media consultant from Bangalore, and global correspondent for world music and jazz for World Music Central and Jazzuality. He has written over 15 books on media, management and culture, and is research director for YourStory Media. Madan was formerly World Music Editor at Rave magazine and RJ at WorldSpace, and can be followed on Twitter at @MadanRao.