Escape to Manali for the First Edition of Sounds of Soil, a Zero-Waste Festival That Goes Beyond Music
Sounds of Soil isn’t just another music festival with glitter face-paint and overflowing trash cans. It’s kind to the earth and local communities.
Published : April 28, 2025 at 2:58 PM IST
Every once in a while, someone somewhere decides that things ought to be better... and then actually does something about it. Sounds of Soil, launching this week in Soil Village, Manali, is one of those rare ideas: a zero-waste music festival that celebrates live music, art, nature, and that stubborn little human impulse to leave the world less messy than we found it.
Set in VanVaas Orchard, with its pine forests, glacial streams, and brooding hillsides, Sounds of Soil offers a three-day escape for the weary, the restless, and the people who know deep down that Spotify playlists just don’t smell like fresh mountain air. It is scheduled from May 2-4, 2025.
The mission is to celebrate nature, leave no trash behind, reforest the land, support villages and have a very, very good time.
A Festival Built on Song and Soil
Organised by musician Manas Chowdhary, travel entrepreneur Parminder Sandhu, and the team at Yoloo Life, Sounds of Soil is less about selling overpriced nachos and more about restoring your sense of wonder. “Farm-fresh meals, hiking trails, forest bathing (that’s meditating among trees), workshops, fishing, and camping are all part of the deal,” says Manas. Zero waste is the foundation. Every bit of plastic avoided, every biodegradable fork used, is part of a rebellion against a world that produces too much junk.
The Line-up
Now, onto the music, which is at the heart of it all. Each act brings a different flavour (rock, folk, blues, electro, soul) stitched together by a common love for live, original music.
- Bombay Lights (Mumbai) — Dreamy indie rock with a city heartbeat.
- Dashugs (Ladakh) — Alt-rock straight from the cold deserts of Ladakh.
- Daira (Mumbai) — Hindi rockers known for their explosive live energy.
- David Baker aka Dr. Dope (Guwahati) — Psychedelic vibes and hypnotic beats.
- Gowwli (Kerala) — Earthy, rhythmic tunes that feel like monsoon evenings.
- Kalyani Nair (Chennai) — Soulful, velvety voice with Carnatic undertones.
- Maps The Band (Manali) — Homegrown folk-rockers, inspired by the hills themselves.
- Mahesh Raghunandan (Bangalore) — Singer-songwriter magic with velvet vocals.
- Myna (Guwahati) — Indie-folk sweetness tinged with northeastern soul.
- Neeraj Rajawat (Mumbai) — Contemporary Hindi poetry meets acoustic sound.
- Oorka (Chennai) — Folk-fusion outfit blending Tamil roots with rock.
- Pradeep Kumar (Chennai) — Acclaimed vocalist known for cinematic and independent brilliance.
- Raavi featuring Nidhi (Chamba) — Melodic folk duets, straight from Himachali heartlands.
- Rudy Wallang (Shillong) — Legendary blues guitarist with decades of soul.
- Sunfrost (Delhi) — Ambient electro-pop that shimmers like heatwaves.
- Shivi R Kashyap (Mumbai/Himachal) — Fresh voice weaving urban and hill narratives.
- Shaurya Bastola (Manali) — Singer-songwriter carrying mountain wisdom.
- Super Deluxe (Norway) — Funky, jazz-infused surprises from the Nordic lands.
- Samar Monsoon (Manali) — Ambient, cosmic sounds tailor-made for the forest.
- The Pulse Theory (Bengaluru) — Rock outfit merging emotion with electricity.
- Wildwood Tribe (Manali) — Raw, rustic, and endlessly soulful collective born of the mountains.
Sounds of Soil is a chance to trade notifications for night skies, playlists for live performances, and anxiety for slow, honest conversations around a bonfire. So, don't miss this chance to shoot the breeze in Manali.
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