Jodhpur Rajasthan International Folk Festival with international flavour

The fifth Jodhpur Rajasthan International Folk Festival is back again this year to enthrall music lovers from October 12-16.

Kolkata: The fifth Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), ranked amongst the Top 25 International Music Festivals in the world, is back again this year to enthrall music lovers from October 12-16.

Endorsed by UNESCO as a `peoples` platform for creativity and sustainable development,` the five-day festival has been exquisitely programmed to showcase to music afficionados the traditional music of Rajasthan, as well as unique collaborations between Indian and international performers. The festival, to feature in the BBC `Imagine` documentary series for a film on RIFF 2011, is thus the first festival in India to be featured on this prestigious series, a RIFF organising committee spokesman said. The artistes will be from across the globe, this time - from San Francisco, Manchester, Amsterdam, Reunion Islands, Katmandu, Melbourne besides from Rajasthan at the Mehrangarh Fort heritage site, the spokesman said. The festival authorities will have new collaborations with Band of Brothers (Australia) and DJ Maga Bo (Brazil). RIFF is India`s first music festival drawing attention to our musician friends in the Indian Ocean Region – Reunion Islands, Australia, he said. The festival had seen performances of known names like Rekha Bhardwaj, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ram Sampath and Sona Mohapatra in the past. "In 2009 we presented Rekha Bharadwaj, in 2010 Sona Mohpatra, in 2011 we present Kavita Seth. RIFF thus consistently looks to highlight unusual textured voices and personalities within our popular national vocalists." Talents, having groomed by RIFF, like Bhanwari Devi, Kadar Khan langa and Lakha Khan Manganiyar will be performing at the Edinburgh International Festival 2011, which started in 1947 and is the oldest music festival, he said. Bhanwari is the first woman Rajasthani traditional vocalist to perform there, the spokesman said. Jodhpur RIFF had been patronised by Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones but aims at showcasing the talents of the traditional artists of Rajasthan and make a mark in the international arena. Two heritage trusts - the Mehrangarh Museum Trust and Jaipur Virasat Foundation are holding the festival. PTI