Ladakh Confluence: India's mountainous music festival survives

Billed as "a whole lotta love" in "one of the highest, purest environments in the world" the four day Ladakh Confluence (July 15-18) has emerged as one of India's most popular festival templates. This is not suprising. Who wouldn't want to attend a music festival at 3,500 meters, one of the highest locales of the world, at Sindhu ghat, Choglamsar, Leh -- which ropes in art, culture and eco-living? Well, momos and the odd didgeridoo workshop to be specific.

Against the backdrop of Ladakh's stark mountainous landscape, artists like Karsh Kale, Manu Delago, Christoph Pepe Auer, Rajasthan Roots, Young Musicians of The World, Something Relevant, Jamie Catto and The Supersonics will beat their drums -- the focus being on clean beats, earthy sounds, an eclectic mix of world styles and an emphasis on percussion and rhythm. It's not the best line-up India's emerging music scene can muster, which might have something to do with the change in management this year, and notables Talvin Singh, Shaa’ir + Func, Bauchklang and Soulmate who played in 2009 are absent. Click here for the current line-up.

Festival tickets from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000 are on sale at these venues in Mumbai and online. A quick check on flight booking engines show Mumbai-Leh return flight seats are scarce and prices frightfully inflated. Which leaves the more time consuming alternative of flying to Delhi and driving up 20 hours through Manali. On the guitar-wielding other hand, if you're going to get into the festival spirit there's nothing like a road trip prelude!

Image gallery from Ladakh Confluence 2009 on CNNGo. Follow festival updates on Twitter.com/Confluencefest