If this week, a lot of people you know from everywhere from Guwahati to Mumbai were casually mentioning a trip to Arunachal, you know where they were headed: Ziro. The Ziro valley in Arunachal made for possibly the most ideal setting for the Ziro Festival of Music (22-25 September 2016).
Here are some stunning photographs by Kannaki Deka, a Bangalore-based writer and former lecturer, who was at Ziro. Deka says that the crowd had a lot of solo women travellers from all around the country, some in their 20s, who had hitched rides on trucks to get to the venue. The environment was energetic, with large amounts of apong (rice wine) flowing, and the after-parties went on till dawn, with a lot of interaction between artists, locals, and the crowds.
Reportedly, Ziro was everything. From the great food, the camping amidst lush paddy fields, and many, many performances, with contemporary indie, electronic and folk artists such as Vivian Fernandes, Shye Ben Tzur & The Rajasthan Express, Donn Bhat, Smooth Relax, and Sofiyum performing. Doordarshan (which has startled some of us by being official media partners of the festival) has mentioned the Ziro festival on their Facebook page, with the caption, “The hills fill my heart with the sound of music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears”. We have nothing more to say.
On the highway to Ziro Valley.
And here’s the venue of the Ziro Festival of Music.
Natural amphitheatre in the valley called the Danyii, created using the valley’s natural terrain.
People listening to performances.
People listening to a performance on Day 2 of the festival by Sofia Thenmozhi Ashraf and Suren Vikhash U, indie artists from Chennai who performed Tamil songs.
One of the performances by the band Smooth Relax.
Soul music from Gangtok
Over 700 women performed Daminda, a dance form indigenous to the Apatani tribe, forming a long train across the valley, and were also joined by visitors.
Women of all ages took part in the dance, all in traditional outfits.
Smoked chicken feet.
Woman making sizzling pork fat.
Woman selling home-made Apong (rice wine) at the venue. The bar and most of the stalls were run by Apatani women. Some of the older women had facial tattoos, and folklore has it that these tattoos were to repel men from the neighbouring Nyishi tribe, to prevent them from abducting Apatani women.
A woman packs the Apong in bottles.
Bamboo installation by Kollol Kishore Brahmadutta at night.
Dusk at Ziro with a bamboo art installation by Kollol Kishore Brahmadutta in the background.
More dusk at Ziro.
After Ziro, on the way back to Itanagar.