Ziro Music festival soon came into limelight post Ziro Valley being announced as a prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ziro valley is a highly picturesque valley located in Arunachal Pradesh, that’s meant for one visit a lifetime at least! This particular North-east music festival is looked forward to by a huge audience! Additionally, this pompous music festival is definitely for all the music lovers out there. Be ready to rock, roll and fully enjoy the pomp and show of this stupendous Music festival in none other but the Ziro Valley!
Call out the hipster in you and for God’s sake the sulking youth inside, that’s been grinding nine-to-five all round year! Here’s to the biggest Music fiesta, the Ziro Music Festival!!
About Ziro Music Festival ~
Well, the Ziro Music Festival is an occurrence caused by the greatest men, Bobby Hano and Menwhopause guitarist Anup Kutty in 2012. A lot of Indian artists under varied names contribute their art to this North-east Music Festival. Some of the prominent ones are- Steve Shelley, Lou Majaw, Shaa’ir n Func, Indus Creed, Lee Ranaldo, Menwhopause, Guru Rewben Mashangva, and Peter Cat Recording Co among others. Let’s just say that the list is widening every day!
Things Needed For An Entry Into The Ziro Music Festival
One needs an official permission for not just the Ziro Valley, but for Arunachal Pradesh itself. Considering the restricted premises of this North-eastern state, there are several things that you might want to keep handy.
1. ILP-
Inline Permit: This permit is needed by anyone except for the natives of Arunachal Pradesh, to enter any place in here, even the Ziro Music Festival! You can get the ILP online or can get it issued by the Government Authorities of Arunachal Pradesh. The offices for the same are in Delhi, Kolkata, Tezpur, Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, and Jorhat.
2. PAP-
Protected Area Permit: This is for all the foreigners wanting to enter the thresholds of Arunachal Pradesh. The PAPs can be obtained from the All Indian Missions abroad, All Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRRO) at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chief Immigration Officer, Chennai, Home Ministry, Govt. of India and Home Commissioner, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, Itanagar.
How To Reach Ziro Music Festival In Ziro Valley?
a. Via Road
Now, you can take a taxi from Guwahati or Jorhat (approx 470 Km). It will take 7 hours for you to reach via NH27 & NH15, the roads being as smooth as butter. Also, you can take a government bus if on a budget. There are government run buses from Itanagar to Ziro for a fair price, that is, between INR 100 – INR 200.
b. Via Air
Reach this astonishing North-east Music festival via air. Likabali and Tezpur are the nearest airports but, to be honest, not so reliable owing to the flight timings. Therefore, it’s rather advisable to fly to Guwahati Airport (450 km) and then travel to Ziro Valley via road or rail. Just understand, reaching the Ziro music festival is surely a task, but truly worth all the efforts.
c. By Rail
Catch your train from the nearest rail-head, that is, Naharlagun and is about 3 hours away from Ziro Valley. Furthermore, one can board an overnight train from Guwahati to Naharlagun.
Useful Tips For The Visitors Of The Ziro Music Festival
- Carrying raincoats, gumboots or umbrellas help. This advice is lent out keeping in mind the time of the year when the Ziro Music Festival is held. It’s the Monsoon season, just saying!
- Book your tickets as early as possible to further avail the early bird benefits.
- Make early reservations for Ziro valley is nearly crowded almost always.
- Do carry your ILP and PAP as per your national/ international identity.
- Do not forget to try the famous Aping beer of the region.
- Do have an extra day pre-planned for, in your itinerary, in case of an emergency!
Well, are we done here? Yes. Are you? If not, and hopefully not, then be as groovy as you like to be. But first, do book your tickets. There’s so much in store for the music-freak in you, in this Ziro Music Festival, held annually. Holla Fellas, what are you even waiting for?! Get Goin’!!!
