We attended the Magnetic Fields Festival 2023 held at Alsisar Mahal in Rajasthan. Ranked among the top 5 festivals across Asia, the 9th edition of the arts and music escapade started on the 15th of December. As attendees traveled from across the country, they started checking in to their accommodation on Friday afternoon and were greeted at the Warehouse Mix showcase at the Desert Oasis Stage. In the middle of the campsite and the market area was the ‘afternoon’ stage blasting house music from the 70s/80s, popular at New York clubs. While artists Tartaruga and No Mo Soul curated a unique welcome experience, guests behaved like kids. They were excited to check out the 17th-century palace-turned-heritage hotel home to the festival.
Checking out the beautifully constructed piece of architecture, one could see the 11 stages at the festival, 3 of which were in the ground and the rest at the Mahal. While one could spot Abhimanyu Alsisar dressed up iconically in a long trench coat with the festival logo embroidered and a Netaji cap cheerfully greeting the artists and showing around the place, people moved back to their tents for a power nap before the actual program started. Some stayed back to watch Indian live electronica act RHL practice with classical talents at the Badal Mahal as a part of the Fieldlines project which was showcased on the mainstage on Sunday. Fieldlines is a residency at Magnetic Fields that brings together Indian electronic artists and classical sounds through a stay at the mahal before the festival.
Magnetic Fields hosts artists that represent genreless sounds but can still be broadly categorized into alt-rock, jazz, reggae, UK garage, experimental techno, house, drum, and bass. This year’s lineup was stacked with names like Glass Beams, OR:LA, Moopie, Jennifer Loveless, and Hudson Mohawke as “headliners” and a stellar 70+ other names on support from both India and abroad. While all genres were fairly represented on the showcase, dance and minimal tech house sounds dominated the sets. The music resonated with the international booking trends and had major fresh emerging names. The different stages were more or less signifying one kind of sound.
1. Puqaar Stage: On the highest terrace of the palace, here’s where the opening ceremony for the main programming started on day 1. Hosting only T=0, a goa-based newly formed act bringing old gazals a new life by mixing rock music elements, fans rejoiced the performance and the sunset sitting in a baithak.
2. South Stage: The stage came alive during the evening and mainly hosted live acts like Glass Beams, Dualist Inquiry, Sandunes, Dele Sosimi, and more. Being in an open-air garden, with good A/V production, it was fun to grab drinks while listening to light music before bangers at night.
3. Underground Stage: Palaces back in the era used to have their own dungeons. This stage is the same converted in a small escapade hosting bass acts like Mixstress, Kandy Kuri, and Rasa. With a bar, a seating area, and a stage all tucked in the basement, the place was a cosy hideaway from the chilly winter outside but could become suffocating when crowded.
4. North Stage: The Palace courtyard set with the best sound and stunning visual mapping on palace walls made up the North Stage. Techno acts like Mella Dee, I. Jordan, Paula Tape, DJ ADHD and more were the caretakers of the stage.
5. Yard Stage: Set in the middle, the area had a small metal shed stage with a fountain in the dancing area, a mandir on the side, and a pool with seating to relax while Drum and Bass or more breakbeats style of music from artists like Otik, Nosedrip, and Gazzi made it to your ears.
6. Sundowner Stage: On the second level terrace of the venue was the place for all deep house sounds from acts like Sanoli Chowdhary, Vridian, Kareem Ali, Alboe, etc. It is a good place to enjoy the sunsets and fresh air before the heavier evenings.
7. Afterparty Stage: Near the food court, this popup came alive only at 4 am. On night 1, the stage hosted the 20 Years of Numbers showcase with Spencer & Hudson Mohawke, and on night 2 Resident Advisor took over with a B2B set by Danielle and Amaliah opened by Indian talent Dotdat.
8. Darbar Hall: This is where the mehfil came alive on the weekend when Husband Wife duo Anuja Zokarkar and Apoorv Petkar got everyone rejoicing to Haveli songs where they reminded everyone the importance of religion in life with songs of Krishna and later on Sunday was the Rajasthani Folk music showcase which was even joined by Indian Idol fame Moti Khan who got everyone dancing to some enticing numbers from artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali khan.
Moving to the festival ground, three stages were erect to explore.
1. Peacock Club: Dark, premium, red, velvety, and intimate are some words that describe the stage well. Used as one place for all, the space hosted an ambient psychedelic journey with Indian record label Social Isolation, then converted to a Spoken Fest – Magnetic Words the next afternoon while the midnight had a special Reggae sound system by Delhi Sultanate and Begum X. In contrast, the final day only hosted a solo set from OR:LA where people lined up for an hour to get in but could not.
2. Disco Tent: A stage hosted by Stalvart John ensured that Disco music is abundant across the three days with a lineup of select DJs from his Dynamite Disco Club and some special B2B / hidden sets from artists performing beyond their genres like Dualist Inquiry, Jitwam, Orpheu The Wizard and Dar Disku.
3. Desert Oasis: Venue for all afternoon showcases, this stage was joined by Vietnam’s rising star TaoFu, a specially commissioned b2b featuring Berlin-based Alex Kassian and Goa-based DJ AAGUU, as well as the latter’s long-time collaborator Rishi Sippy. Artists including Jennifer Loveless and Dar Disku played their second sets and the festival closed with the every year tradition of dawn time secret closing party at this stage.
Each year the pattern Magnetic Fields follows for their lineup is pretty much the same that we described in our previous publication. Indeed this year as well they hosted some of the most budding acts that are gaining popularity in the international circuit, and have played the biggest stages and Boiler Room(s) of the world but at many points during the festival, it felt that the sets were not gripping enough which lead to the question – Is Magnetic Fields an ongoing legacy or has lost its charm? To start with, Magnetic Fields is not your usual fest, it offers immersive round-the-clock programming. There is a sense of community when you stay and interact with dance music lovers like yourself and it is inclusive in all terms. From select music to a diverse queer performance to art installations to even a treasure hunt (which hasn’t gone past the first clue in the last three years, we also tried and failed), the fest sees a little bit of everything.
Overall review: While the crowds cheered through and partied like it was their last festival, there was something that felt missing. The event was surrounded by immaculate vibes, great hospitality, and an overall event that ticked ‘a bucket list experience’. We would rate the festival 7.5/10 where the score would be deducted for a ‘musically unsound’ crowd, a little lacking effort on programming, and the package feeling incomplete. While moments like the prince dancing along during the Darbar hall performances and introducing all acts by storytelling made one feel that this is the best festival experience ever, little details felt unattended like the smaller stages not having the adequate sound engineering setup for best outputs made you question, is it Asia’s top festival? The festival had a lot of similar contrasting moments, like the headline performance (which was also the Prince’s favorite act) by Glass Beams. It felt somewhat ordinary but the closing ceremony was mind-blowing. What started on Monday morning was a mayhem, Amaliah and Danielle took over the Desert Oasis stage and were later joined by Moopie x OR:LA to close the festival. While the three sets were indeed the epitome of perfected art, this ended at 5:30 AM and the crowd was still left longing for more. Seeing this, Jennifer Loveless took over the decks. She made it her responsibility for a very special Sunrise Retro Pop n’ House set where other artists including OR:LA, Mella Dee, and Moopie also dropped a track or two. This was a slightly unexpected way to end the festival and was not appreciated by many who kept longing for closure amidst the foggy sunrise with no sun in the desert. The festival would likely continue to be an adventure for the wealthy folks in North India while also serving as a platform for music enthusiasts from the country. A few other issues apart like stages being a little overcrowded at times, there were things very beautifully managed like when the water ran out, a push notification was sent with a commitment that it would be restored, and the same was executed in hardly 20 minutes. There was an instance of theft on the campsite but the security post was firmly tightened and even the lost items were recovered. A complete city being built in a remote location with zero hassles to the attendees needs a standing ovation. Truly the “Coachella” or “Burning Man” of India.
It is a worthy event to attend but not something one would likely attend every year. The single-degree temperatures, dancing in the sand, enjoying music in a Mahal, and just relaxing on the rooftop during sunset are a complete holiday in itself. It is genuinely exciting to see how the complete Alsisar village comes together to host the festival in different ways. The people employed on the festival site are locals and the same goes for their security officials. The walk from the campsite to the mahal transforms into a sort of Khao-Gully where the locals put their stalls serving Eggs, Maggie, Confectionary, and fruits. One can also rejoice in the local Rajasthani delicacies here.
So, if you wish to attend next year, here’s how much it would cost you. We recommend attending in groups of three because this is not one of those festivals that you would like to enjoy solo. The fest offers two kinds of stay options:
- Palace Stay: The property is a full-fledged heritage hotel and the rooms are also available to the attendees for the stay but they are extremely premium in terms of pricing. You can expect to pay upwards of 2 lakh rupees for the duration of the festival for accommodation here.
- Camping: A better-suited option for most people and available in single, twin-sharing, and triple-sharing options with either an actual camping style tent or relatively luxurious bedouin tent setups with personal toilets and all amenities. These start somewhere at Rs 25K/- for a single person including the festival pass but we recommend you take the three-person bedouin tent (the cost for two people is almost the same) at almost Rs 1.2L/- [inflation adjusted for next year].
Some people also tend to take only festival passes (priced around Rs 15K/-) and stay at other heritage properties around the area which charge anywhere between Rs 30K/- to Rs 75K/- for a 3-day stay. These are people’s own homes converted to homestays. We again don’t recommend going for this because there are some scam listings plus you would not have the capacity to go even 100 meters further away from the festival site in such extreme weather and intense programming.
The food and bar options are adequate. While you can rejoice a juice, maggie, or eggs priced at Rs 100 at one of the local stalls, the festival’s official food court has drinks priced at Rs 500/600 and similarly for a food item. The variety is decent and you would not be disappointed but we recommend taking some homecooked food, protein bars, fruits, and some snacks to keep yourself going through the fest.
One can travel to Alsisar by either reaching the nearest Railway Station – Sadulpur Junction and taking a local taxi ride of 45 minutes to the festival site (costs Rs 1.5K/- per person) or you can take a taxi directly from Delhi which would cost Rs 15K/- to and fro inclusive of everything.
Temperatures tend to be low; thus, multiple layers of warm clothes are a must to carry. Heaters are not allowed inside camps but one can get heating pads for Rs 300 on rent. A good quality lock, extra blanket, electric kettle, portable speaker (for afters of afters), water bottle, and some tea/coffee sachets would make your life much easier at the fest.
The afternoons offer you the potential to showcase your fashion sense and that’s what most people do. Collating some of the richest folks in the country, the festival turns into a fashion show with people displaying their colossal outfits as well as their favorite luxury brands. If feeling a little left out, there is an uptown flea market with some exciting Indian streetwear brands to shop from. Besides that, Magnetic Fields offers multiple other activities. We enjoyed Stargazing, Block painting, Meditation, and Yoga, and there we several other things happening like the Cacao Ceremony, Sound Bath, Painting classes, Aromatherapy, Thai massage, Tarot Card Reading, and more throughout the festival.
Overall Magnetic Fields remains an excellent experience and we will wait to see what they have in store for their 10th Anniversary special edition this year. Tickets generally go live in August without the lineup reveal and are sold out in a few minutes. We do recommend the festival to come up with new ideas to gatekeep the festival to better crowds and also think fresh in terms of programming like say having the Reggae sound system in the food court with beanbags for people to relax and enjoy. We will now leave you with the closing track played by Jennifer Loveless during sunrise that still rings in our ears.
Our favorite sets at MF23:
- Spencer (20 years of Numbers Lable showcase)
- Deadbeat (North Stage set)
- Jennifer Loveless (Desert Oasis Afternoon set)
- OR:LA B2B Moopie (Closing Ceremony set)
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