A new music and adventure festival, under the skies, will make for a heady experience, minus commercial trappings
The venue will have lifeguards at the lake to ensure things go smoothly
When was the last time you attended a live gig and weren’t bombarded with sponsor logos that were too in your face? The Sanctuary might just be your calling. Come November and an open-air festival will make its debut in a village called Chive (roughly 93 km from Mumbai), with a lake and a hillock as the campsite.
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The venue will have lifeguards at the lake to ensure things go smoothly
The Sanctuary Episode One has been organised by a trio who are music and outdoor lovers, Praful Mishra (25), Kalpesh More (23) and Pranay Parab (21), ex-students of Matunga’s Ruia college. Fed up of the commercialisation of music festivals, they were keen to bring back the music into these festivals. “Most folks attend such gigs only because it might be the cool thing to do. They take selfies, or record videos instead of enjoying the music.
A sketch depicting a perfect setting at the lake for Sanctuary
So, we were keen to do something about this rather than complaining,” informs Mishra, who is an illustrator by profession. With his experience in design and social media engagement, Mishra is the brain behind creative and online aspects of the fest. More, who is a music producer and a sound engineer, will organise the music, while Parab, with a background in event management, will oversee logistics. Friends have helped with getting permissions, estimating budgets, production set up and other areas.
Experience a high
The USP of the event will be the location, which is a scenic, open space called Krishna Farms near Pali. The setting includes a hillock as well as a man-made lake, which will also serve as a venue for kayaking or chilling in tubes. Plans are also afloat to introduce flying fox and rock climbing. The campsite will be on the hillock; here, single, couple and community tents will be available, or one can bring their own. The music will be a mix of Electronic, Tech House, Chill Out and Ambient. Listen to artistes like Hindi Rock band Sparsh and solo project, Sideffects. “We will encourage people to get their instruments and jam together; we will have drum circles. We don’t need popular artistes to draw in crowds but wish for people to soak in this soulful experience,” adds Mishra.
Outdoors all the way
Jump into sessions of life-size beer pong, volleyball and stargazing. Revellers can also enjoy vantage views of sunrise. The organisers will stay away from all things commercial. So, instead of kiosks by restaurants, food will be provided from a kitchen at a small resort on the property. The highlight will be a public barbecue, where semi-cooked tandoori food will be offered, adding to the inclusive vibe.
Money wise
The organisers aim to run the show through ticket earnings and sale of food. The lone tie-ups will be in exchange for services like a car-pooling agency to help people reach the venue, or as the alcohol provider. “We plan to start an online crowd-funding campaign. We might not break even and are putting in money from our pockets. We have 50 confirmations (and counting). But this is a start. We are planning to keep it a bi-annual affair and will have Episode Two in February or March 2016,” Mishra signs off.
From:November 21 (10 am onwards) till November 22
COST: Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500
LOG ON TO: www.facebook.com/ SanctuaryCalling Tickets will go live by next week.