Echoes of Earth music festival team gears up for its next immersive art event
In this photo essay, we showcase highlights from the Echoes of Earth music festival, and curator insights on the next ‘Sixth Sense’ festival.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 935 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Swordfish, the creative agency behind the Echoes of Earth music festival, is planning its next major event for the year: an 18-day immersive festival that blends art, music, technology, and nature. The Sixth Sense festival aims to reawaken human connection with the natural world, and will be held from February 5-22 at the Alembic City glass factory in Whitefield, Bengaluru.
“We are inviting a community of tech artists and designers into a space imagined as a home for experimentation, conversation and collective discovery,” Roshan Netalkar, Founder and Director of Echoes of Earth and Swordfish, tells YourStory.
The performance lineup includes Niladri Kumar, Vieux Farka Touré, Batavia Collective, and Max Cooper. Other artists will be Sasha Kojjio, Alisa Davydova, Stephen Bontly, Joshua Sam Miller, Tatsuru Arai, Nicolas Michel, and Ephemereal Tomorrow.
This event comes fast on the heels of the Echoes of Earth 2025 music festival held on December 13-14. In this photo essay, we showcase some of the Day Two performers, environmental educators, and art installations (see our coverage of its editions from 2023 and 2024 here).
“The festival saw approximately 12,000 attendees on Day One and 16,500 on Day Two, with a total footfall of around 28,500,” Netalkar says.
Over 900 applications were received for volunteer positions. “120 volunteers were selected and came on board to support the festival across art installations, accessibility support, media, hospitality, production, operations, and artist coordination,” he adds.
Performers on Day Two included Madame Gandhi, Tribal Need, Vilnius Jazz Ensemble, Bedouin, Anish Kumar, Manu Delago, and Sublime Sound. A number of musicians spoke about how distinct Echoes of Earth felt compared to conventional festivals, especially its setting, curation and immersive nature-led experience.
“Many festivals are taking steps towards being more sustainable, but to be fully sustainable—that is a different level,” according to Belgian electronic live band, Stavroz.
“It was great to play to such a diverse audience of different ages,” said Varijashree Venugopal, the Grammy-nominated singer and composer known for blending Carnatic music with global genres.
Her performance included a Kannada track called One-note Sambar, a playful take on the Brazilian classic, One-note Samba. Varijashree also offers tips for aspiring musicians.
“Be a great listener, and keep your mind open to new sounds and ideas. Find a good trainer to help keep up with the challenges. And find your unique voice,” she advises.
Echoes of Earth has also been successfully certified as a ‘Commended Greener Festival 2025’ by A Greener Future (AGF). The London-based organisation recognises festivals that are environmentally aware and make positive change.
“From a broader feedback perspective, one key area of learning was related to the festival grounds, particularly the dust issue. We are actively working on measures to address and mitigate this issue and ensure improved ground conditions for the next edition of the festival,” Netalkar affirms.
Built on the same principles that have guided Echoes of Earth, the team’s next festival also leverages music, art and nature to spark learning and curiosity about the natural world.
The festival will feature over 30 art-tech experiences, six live performances, a 360° dome, and 20 waste-to-art installations. "All this is designed to make you pause, think, and feel inspired,” Netalkar explains.
"As technology increasingly shapes our future, immersive experiences are becoming one of the most powerful ways to understand complex subjects through emotion, touch, and presence. This festival is our way of exploring experiences that are not just observed, but felt, questioned, and co-created," Netalkar signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Echoes of Earth.)