Guwahati: A music festival at a scenic river island with a plethora of talented musicians from across the nation — sounds too good to be true, isn’t it? Well, this is exactly what happened at the recently-concluded Majuli Music Festival 2019 in Assam.
With the theme ‘Music for Change’, the festival kick-started on November 15 with a cultural procession of the indigenous tribes that currently reside on the island.
A tree plantation drive was initiated by Jadav ‘Molai’ Payeng, the ‘Forest Man of India’, who spoke about the dire situation the planet is going through right now. Apart from having a living exemplar of what a man can single-handedly do as the chief guest, the festival also banned the usage of single-use plastic, giving it a much-required nudge towards accountability.
The music festival catered not to music fanatics, but also food enthusiasts as food stalls lined up around the festival venue displayed an array of mouth-watering edibles. Ranging from local delicacies of roasted pork to mayonnaise filled shawarma rolls the venue had it all.
Also, let’s not forget the adventure activities that were planned for the spectators. Zip lining, sharp shooting and powered paragliding took the music festival to the realm of an adventure trip.
As evening set, the stage lights tore through the fog that had started to engulf the venue and thus began the festival. Bands and musicians of the likes of When Chai Met Toast, Rain in Sahara, E.S.P., Folkswagon, Abhi Saikia, Guru Rewben Mashangva, Alobo Naga, Island Warrior etc., left the crowd mesmerized with their wizardry in music.
This was the first instalment of Majuli Music Festival and the three-day musical extravaganza ended on November 19.