Echoes of Earth announces full line-up for debut Goa edition

Goa will host Echoes of Earth festival for the first time on February 2-4 with this edition aptly named Ensemble of the Wild.

The event, which claims to be “India’s greenest music festival”, emphasises sustainability, wellbeing and conservation.

After getting its footing in Bengaluru each December, Echoes of Earth now boasts two editions a year, with this February Goa edition being the first in the region.

The line-up features a balanced mix of global stars and homegrown talents scheduled to perform across four stages. Notable acts include Parisian trio Oden and Fatzo, Shubostar's cosmic disco from Korea, Indonesia's future jazz outfit Batavia Collective, Filipino-American singer (((O))), India's own Anushka and Rafiki plus many more.

Beyond the eclectic music acts, organisers have started ‘The Greener Side’; an initiative to educate and encourage the community to raise awareness related to conservation. This includes activities and workshops in Goa from 6-31 January.

Speaking on sustainability within the festival, the festival’s director and visionary Roshan Netalkar told us: “We’re championing slow living. At our festival, you'll find a flea market with 20+ sustainable brands, encouraging attendees to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle beyond the event."

He continues, “Our commitment extends beyond the festival, as we've partnered with organizations like the Goa State Biodiversity Board, WWF-India, and local grassroots initiatives. Through the Greener Side campaign, we're actively engaging Goan youth in wildlife conservation and planet preservation with panel discussions, nature walks on local biodiversity.”

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Festival curator Sohail Arora shared with us: “Given that Echoes Bengaluru musically and curation-wise has found a good balance and workflow after six years of existence, we had the opportunity to reimagine Goa from scratch while bringing the sensibilities of Echoes into it. As a place, it also represents a sense of calm with its beautiful beaches and green spaces, which is even more in sync with the festival's sustainability ethos.

"Overall, the music curation of the festival in its debut edition tries to amplify these sentiments via incredible global musicians/producers and DJs, while involving as many authentic local musicians who are currently taking the Goan music scene ahead into the future,” he adds.

When asked about local talents to watch, Sohail told us, “Dualist Inquiry with his brand new live set, plus special vinyl sets from Leaxan Freitas; a vinyl selector and collector with a passion for sharing Goan culture through music.

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He also mentions a special performance by Roz Angon (“Rose Garden”), that evokes nostalgia with a tinge of melancholy, capturing the essence of old Konkan houses and symbolising the fear of Goan identity loss amid rapid changes in language, food, people, and nature.

“Exciting sets can be expected from other Goan-based acts like Boombay Djembe Folas, Shantam, Squidworks, Cosemo, Merak and Discokid. There is pretty much something for everyone and a lot of locals on the bill,” he continues.

Get tickets to Echoes of Earth here.

Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.