<div align="justify">Have an interest in travel and music? Combine both and become a part of the burgeoning music tourism industry. Which means that people travelling only to attend music festivals is now a thing.<br /><br />Even though we have a rich musical heritage, music tourism was not a common term until a few years ago. But changing tastes and sensibilities as well as accessibility to alternative music from different countries has led to a spurt in such events.<br /><br />Tarun Sharma travelled to Pune last year for ‘Sunburn 2016’. “It was my first time because travelling is my passion, not really music. But it was one of the best experiences of my life.”<br /><br />“There were around 13 of us but when we boarded the flight, we realised that there were many who were going there for the same festival. We quickly became friends and the number of people in our group became bigger. That was one of the reasons why we enjoyed ourselves so much. And the ambience was also fantastic. I have become a big fan of events like these and plan to attend many more. I had even made plans to attend ‘Tomorrowland’ this year but I couldn’t get visa in time. Next year I will try again,” he adds.<br /><br />The indie music scene is growing rapidly and the festivals keep getting bigger and better. ‘Magnetic Fields’, ‘Bacardi NH7 Weekender’, ‘Sunburn Festival’, ‘Ragasthan’, ‘Jodhpur RIFF’, ‘Bangalore Open Air’, ‘Hornbill Music Festival’ — these are characterised by exotic locales, campsites in the lap of nature, late night musical sessions and more.<br /><br />Abhijith aka Psy Didge from ‘Mind Map’ is a regular performer at many festivals in the country as well as the organiser of ‘Zero Gravity Festival’ <br />in Hampi.<br /><br />When asked about the culture of music tourism, he says, “The numbers have been steadily increasing over the years. Many people come from different parts of the country to attend such events now. The culture is building up and now bigger festivals are moving to smaller cities to reach out to more people.”<br /><br />“As an artiste, I feel the musical variety is less. There are a lot of repetitive performances. For example in ‘NH7 Weekender’, many artistes have been playing every year since the inception. Newer artistes and newer genres are coming up every year and they should also be given a chance. Also, more interactive things should be included like workshops, art-related installations and so on.”<br /><br />While music tourism is not very affordable, fans understand the limited supply and book in advance. Some others like Neha Menezes get lucky.<br /><br />“‘Coldplay’ is one of my favourite bands. I was lucky enough to get free tickets to their concert in Mumbai last year from ‘Global Citizen’. It was once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.”<br /><br />“The queues were huge but there was no jostling. The arrangements were satisfactory. At first I stood right at frontwith the crazy crowd but as the day progressed, I moved to the back and started enjoying in a more leisurely way,” she says.</div>
<div align="justify">Have an interest in travel and music? Combine both and become a part of the burgeoning music tourism industry. Which means that people travelling only to attend music festivals is now a thing.<br /><br />Even though we have a rich musical heritage, music tourism was not a common term until a few years ago. But changing tastes and sensibilities as well as accessibility to alternative music from different countries has led to a spurt in such events.<br /><br />Tarun Sharma travelled to Pune last year for ‘Sunburn 2016’. “It was my first time because travelling is my passion, not really music. But it was one of the best experiences of my life.”<br /><br />“There were around 13 of us but when we boarded the flight, we realised that there were many who were going there for the same festival. We quickly became friends and the number of people in our group became bigger. That was one of the reasons why we enjoyed ourselves so much. And the ambience was also fantastic. I have become a big fan of events like these and plan to attend many more. I had even made plans to attend ‘Tomorrowland’ this year but I couldn’t get visa in time. Next year I will try again,” he adds.<br /><br />The indie music scene is growing rapidly and the festivals keep getting bigger and better. ‘Magnetic Fields’, ‘Bacardi NH7 Weekender’, ‘Sunburn Festival’, ‘Ragasthan’, ‘Jodhpur RIFF’, ‘Bangalore Open Air’, ‘Hornbill Music Festival’ — these are characterised by exotic locales, campsites in the lap of nature, late night musical sessions and more.<br /><br />Abhijith aka Psy Didge from ‘Mind Map’ is a regular performer at many festivals in the country as well as the organiser of ‘Zero Gravity Festival’ <br />in Hampi.<br /><br />When asked about the culture of music tourism, he says, “The numbers have been steadily increasing over the years. Many people come from different parts of the country to attend such events now. The culture is building up and now bigger festivals are moving to smaller cities to reach out to more people.”<br /><br />“As an artiste, I feel the musical variety is less. There are a lot of repetitive performances. For example in ‘NH7 Weekender’, many artistes have been playing every year since the inception. Newer artistes and newer genres are coming up every year and they should also be given a chance. Also, more interactive things should be included like workshops, art-related installations and so on.”<br /><br />While music tourism is not very affordable, fans understand the limited supply and book in advance. Some others like Neha Menezes get lucky.<br /><br />“‘Coldplay’ is one of my favourite bands. I was lucky enough to get free tickets to their concert in Mumbai last year from ‘Global Citizen’. It was once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.”<br /><br />“The queues were huge but there was no jostling. The arrangements were satisfactory. At first I stood right at frontwith the crazy crowd but as the day progressed, I moved to the back and started enjoying in a more leisurely way,” she says.</div>
