Fireflies festival of music

Oikyotaan, a baul fusion band

A dusk to dawn music festival curated by Guruskool for Fireflies Inter Cultural Centre .
This annual Music Festival is held at Fireflies, at Dinnepalya off Kanakapura Road on the 23rd of February. Starting around 6 in the evening it continues, with short breaks, till 7 in the morning the next day. There will be food and beverage stalls to cater to the needs of the audience. Held in the enchanting setting of an open-air amphitheatre under a huge banyan tree overlooking a large pond, the Festival is part of the World Association of Festivals of Sacred Music. In fact, the setting itself has become part of the attraction to draw more and more people every year; last year the audience numbered over 2,000.

Each year the festival has a different theme focusing on some of the core issues that concern all of us in one way or another. Now in its fifth year, the Festival has used music to raise awareness on issues such as peace in the world, water, trees, and an inner and outer journey. This year’s theme is the plight of the adivasis.

A wide ensemble of music awaits the audience. Included in the list of over 10 bands are Emergence, an acoustic Indo-fusion band from the International Township of Auroville; Glenn Rogers; a guitarist/composer from Australia who is an adept at a variety of styles such as northern Indian classical, European classical, Brazilians, euro jazz, bebop and 20th century classical; R.K Padmanabha from Mysore, Esperanto, a Bangalore-based band seeking to transcend cultural lines with its unique sound of hypnotic notes; and Oikyotaan, combining traditional and modern sounds to create a new genre incorporating folk music with innovative sounds and textures, Folk songs of Kabir from Malva by Shabnam Virmani and Dipta Bhog, Qawali by salim Bhai and group, Karnatka folk form Puje Kunita, Swaratma led by Vasu Dixit , and alternative grunge band 777, and many more.

article posted by:Geetha Navale, Guruskool Music