Poles Apart

Among the scores of music festivals that have been mushrooming around the country,the first edition of Magnetic Fields,a three-day event,is one of the most anticipated. The festival will be held between December 13 and 15 at a 17th century palace in the heritage village of Alsisar in Shekhawati,Rajasthan. While most of the acts have been seen in India earlier — among the highlights of the festival are techno favourite Robot Koch and bass-heavy act Shiva Sound System — the point of the festival is the experience. After all,the gig is being organised by a bunch of promoters including the top Indian electronic music blog Wild City and organisers of Grime Riot Disco,WeThePPL.

But ever since the prices for the festival were announced earlier this week,a collective grumble has been doing the rounds. While the passes to the fest are priced at Rs 4,000,the organisers are not selling them without accommodation. With stay,the cheapest ticket is priced at Rs 15,000 a person for a luxury tent and goes up to Rs 39,000 for a palace suite.

“It should be taken into consideration that the majority of the accommodation included in the cost is on premise of the festival grounds. The guests can be fully immersed in the magical festival experience for three days — with music,dance,organic foods — alongside an artist community. We are not cutting corners here. Ecstatic life-changing experiences are worth the investment in our opinion,” argues Munbir Chawla,co-founder of Wild City.

Magnetic Fields is one of the only festivals where a stage is programmed to go on till 4 am. In addition,the fest will feature secret pop-up parties,which might go on the whole night. Given the number of complaints,there’s speculation that the organisers might revise the ticket prices.

kevin.lobo@expressindia.com