Jodhpur’s spectacular 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort is set to come alive once again with the mellifluous music of Rajasthan’s traditional Langas and Manganiars, along with international folk artists, as the Rajasthan International Folk Festival returns for its 16th edition.
Better known as Jodhpur RIFF, the annual five-day festival — which coincides with Sharad Purnima, the brightest full moon of the year — will take place from October 2 to 6 at the grand hilltop fort, with performances spread across its gardens, courtyards, and royal quarters.
The music festival, which begins at dawn with performances and activities spread throughout the day — often culminating post midnight — will showcase a stellar lineup of artistes.
These range from Padma Shri Lakha Khan, one of the last living maestros of the 27-string Sindhi sarangi, and Sawan Khan, among the most legendary Sufi voices from Rajasthan’s Manganiyar community, to Padma Shri Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, a celebrated vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli khayal gayaki tradition. Also performing are the Chennai-based quartet Jatayu, known for fusing jazz with Carnatic music, and Ars Nova Napoli, part of Italy’s Nu Folk revival, who made a stellar Jodhpur RIFF debut in 2023.
Among the cultural mainstays of the festival is the SAZ band, comprising Rajasthani trio Sadiq Khan on dholak, Asin Khan on sindhi sarangi and vocals, and Zakir Khan on khartal. In compelling cross-genre collaborations, the trio will perform with Mumbai-based saxophonist Rhys Sebastian and Kathak dancer Tarini Tripathi, pushing folk music beyond its traditional contours.
“This year, we are bringing in an immersive, site-oriented walking tour called En Route,” says festival director Divya Bhatia.
In a conversation with The WEEK, Bhatia discusses his vision for the festival, this year’s highlights, the emerging crop of artistes, and folk music’s role as a medium for social and political expression.
While the Rajasthani folk music traditions are better represented, the same can’t be said about its counterparts from other states. What does this year’s edition offer on that front?
Yes, some Rajasthani musical traditions — like those of the Manganiyars — are now celebrated more prominently than before. However, artists from the Langa or Kalbeliya communities or forms such as Tamak, or Bam Rasiya, and the Khari dance from Mewat in Rajasthan, are rarely seen. We are celebrating them too.
Then we have Aditi Bhagwat bringing Maharashtra’s Lavni to Rajasthani. We’ll also see performances by vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Sonam Dorji from Bhutan, along with the shamanic sounds of central Asia, of the Sega and Maloya from the Indian Ocean, Fado from Portugal, and swing jazz from Europe.
The SAZ band has become something of a cultural mainstay at the festival. Are there any emerging young artists or new voices in the Rajasthani folk scene that you’re particularly excited about this year?
Long before SAZ, we presented Kutle Khan, Chugge Khan and Nathulal Solanki numerous times at the festival, created their collaboration with Susheela Raman and then supported their travel together overseas. They played together for years, and today are recognised and respected artists.
Groups, however, such as SAZ, are a rarity. In many ways, they are probably among the few Rajasthani folk groups that run as a modern band, steady and committed to their work together, to each other, and discovering old songs and writing new ones in their own idiom.
It’s important to note that SAZ developed in a very organic way through the festival, after the three artists played numerous editions in various capacities before coming to me to say they wanted to have a band of their own. They have grown in skill and stature, stayed true to their roots, and are akin to a true blue folk band, doing their own music while being involved in numerous collaborations, accompanying many artists at the festival.
So yes, this year too, we are presenting many emerging artists. We are re-presenting some wonderful kamaicha players from Sanawara and villages near it. We are presenting a couple of young women artists as well, and hope that in the coming years we will see something exciting emerge.
Which are the unmissable performances this year?
For me, every artist is a highlight and every act in the festival is ‘unmissable’. But here’s what comes to mind immediately. Mahesaram Meghwal’s dawn concert is very special. We have masters from Central Asia — Gulzoda Khudoynazarova from Uzbekistan and Layla Tazhibayeva from Kazakhstan. We also have the Rajasthani legends of the Langa and Manganiyar communities, and a wonderful array of women artists — from Padma Shri Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, to the fabled Dangi sisters, to Emilia Lajunen from Finland, Karolina Cicha from Poland, and many more.
There’s a new immersive performance called ‘en route’ that will take audiences on an immersive walking journey through the fort, a first-of-its-kind experience at Jodhpur RIFF.
Among the exciting collaborations which come to mind are the Cool Desert Project – a marriage of Rajasthani folk and jazz — and Killabeatmaker from Colombia working with Rajasthani percussionists. As is expected, Jodhpur RIFF 2025 has a diverse line-up, ‘rooted’ in regional histories but with voices and performances curated from better and lesser-known places across the globe.
Representation in the arts feels vital today. How do you see folk music as a medium for broader political or social expression? Is this something you consciously consider while curating the festival?
Rajasthani folk songs and forms are always connected to broader social issues, and have commented on economic shifts, acknowledged, respected, and even satirised socio-political change. And this was consciously considered by us since the very beginning of Jodhpur RIFF.
The festival was started with that very ethos - that a platform which represented, recognised and respected folk musicians of Rajasthan ought to be developed at the international level, so that people could hear their words and voices, that we could impact their livelihood in a positive way and could support their transition out of a declining feudal/ quasi-feudal ecosystem; that there was a place for them in a modern music ecosystem that went beyond borders and genres was a key mandate.
With Jodhpur RIFF now in its 16th edition, the festival has clearly come a long way. How has the core vision evolved since its inception?
We still have a long way to go. The roots music landscape has changed, and so has Jodhpur — and the festival is keeping pace with both, and gradually growing within the industry. So while it is true that we have stayed the course for 18 years, our ethos and core values have strengthened, and we have broadened our roots music base to include dance and theatre. This is the work of generations, and so the best is to continue going about our work very patiently.