After my amazing experience last year, I was thrilled to find out that this year, the theme would be the sea and it’s wonderful creatures. As a fellow mermaid struggling to find my existence on land, walking into the festival this year felt like home.
Dolphins, Jellyfish, Seahorses, Crabs… Was I in utopia? Summon the creatures! Where are they?
They were everywhere!
The festival site was lit up with well crafted installations that reflected the aqua theme. A hallmark in each edition, once again the team was on point with the eco friendly structures. They really added to the ambiance of the festival. Their installations happened to be my favorites.
It was liberating to see people of the “big city life” relaxing around me. Friends, that were usually so strung up in the city, floated from one incredibly designed stage to the next, all the weight, lifted. Big smiles on their faces. Just for these two days I flitted from stage to stage, taking in all the lights and sounds, feeling like I was in some kind of earthly, oceanic wonderland. Ah, the perfect balance!
Although the bar prices were a little overpriced I guess that was asking for a bit too much in this day and age. So, I buy my first drink after an incredibly long queue for coupons, and continue on my journey.
One of the things that they could improve or look into the next edition are the restrooms. Ideally located around each stage. Five porta-potties for some 1000 women? Definitely need more. Lights in the rest rooms were also insufficient. Next time, more lights please ! Although, standing in line was a drain, I did make a couple of friends in the process.’
The first night saw the debut of ‘Grouch in Dub.’ in Bangalore. Needless to say, they put on a flawless performance, and was my favorite act of the day.The second day saw a bigger crowd come in. I managed to make it for ‘FKJ’, a personal favorite. The stage looked beautiful at night. The sound and production really hit the spot !
For the younger more electronically leaning audience, the techno stage was their utopia. The stage was set in a nice area and had a great intimate vibe to it. The music was also ethereal , eclectic and was filled with good diversity. The stand out performances for me were local favorite Shreyas, Van Luup amd Nolah. The highlight of the second night was an absolutely outstanding set by the much anticipated Furcoat. They were really weaving a beautiful journey with lush atmospheric sounds and melodic complexity. The coolest thing about this festival was the multiple personalities you could see at a time. Every genre has it’s subscribers and it was pretty great seeing various characters float from one stage to the next.
The problem with trying to catch all the big acts was that they were all performing at the same time ,on different stages. Last year, the timings were so incredibly planned out that I managed to effortlessly enjoy the best of every stage. This year, wasn’t so easy, with all the main acts going on at similar times forcing me to make quite a few sacrifices.
The beautiful thing about Echoes is that you walk in thinking party, but you walk out with a family. In my opinion, I guess that’s how you measure the success of a festival. I mean, at the end of the day, we are all going there to bond as a species, right? For that one moment on that floor, everyone is one and we all belong.
The ‘Echoes of Earth Festival’ has without a doubt done a wonderful job at keeping the love alive, bringing everyone closer together every time.
I think it’s worth mentioning the names of a few artists that you need to look out for in 2019.
Siddhanth Subbaiah, Claudine Pinto, Bheemstyx and Natasha Shaji
Initially, I did wonder how a non-camping festival on the outskirts of the city would pan out. Considering hangovers and after-parties and stuff. But Echoes didn’t seem to have that problem, both days were filled with all kinds of beautiful people and their animals.
Yes, ‘Echoes of the Earth’ is pet-friendly!
So, in conclusion, if you’re looking for an affordable, beautiful, non-elitist festival with a beautiful “We are all one” Woodstock vibe, then make sure you make it to the ‘Echoes Of Earth’ next year.
You won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t. I flapped my mermaid fins to great music and great art and loved it.
