By Mannu Shahi

Echoes in the Valley (EITV) is a unique aesthetical experience that celebrates diverse traditions, ethnicities and communal activities with music as the centerpiece of the event. Initiated in 2017, this annual festival, in a short span of time, has diligently created a reputation as one of the prestigious music celebrating platforms in the country.
A brainchild of the members of Kanta Dab Dab, a Kathmandu-based World Fusion trio comprising Sunit Kansakar on sitars, Rizu Tuladhar on bass and Nikhil Tuladhar on drums and percussion, EITV intends to revive Nepal’s traditional sounds by showcasing local music. 

The instrumental trio was on a Europe tour in mid-2016 when they attended a similar festival where the entire community got out in the streets for a day to exchange music alongside their cultural practices and locally brewed products. This triggered a realisation in the band members who recalled their own roots and customs back home. 
All three members hailing from the peripheral regions of Ason-Basantapur-Nardevi then gathered together with their friends to curate and execute this vision a year later from their very home ground. 

Thus, the present core organizing team roles are founded by Kanta Dab Dab and produced by Shilpakar & Co. in association with Phatcowlee/Kutumba/Night.   
The collective believes, “EITV aims to uncover, revive and make relevant Nepal’s intangible heritages and disappearing sounds by showcasing local music, art and performances of daily rituals. It transforms small neighborhoods within the valley into grand stages for musical conversations between international and local artists. While also offering interactive educational initiatives, music conference, creative workshops, guided neighborhood walks, open museum of communal art and artifacts as well as vending of cultural cuisine and locally manufactured products.”

Since their first event in 2017 was held at Ason, the festival was organized at Banepa in 2018 and it returned to the streets of Ason in 2019. In 2020, EITV was scheduled to take place in Kirtipur. However, the pandemic led restriction for mass gathering caused the concert to be cancelled for the year and was digitally organised in 2021.Featuring a line-up of only non-resident Nepali musicians, the 2021 virtual edition was titled ‘A Letter Home’ and released via the event’s social media handles in a yearlong asynchronous online concert format. This edition featured musicians encompassing various genres with the focus on Nepali heritage and the associated act’s direct and indirect contribution to Nepali music scene as a whole. 

Now, EITV 2022 is back physically with the vision of mid-day parallel concerts in the avenues of the serene landscape of Kirtipur. The alleys, junctures, temple grounds, local podiums, rest stops, chautaras, daballies will be turned into stages for renowned musicians to induce with their sonic energies. The local community bringing forth their traditional delicacies, fine art and craft and celebrating their way of living with musicians and music enthusiasts from across the country and more. 

The free event will take place this coming Saturday on March 26, 2022 and will feature musicians performing world music, folk music, ritual music, indigenous artistry, adhunik sangeet, lok geet, folklores, traditionally inclined modern experimental music, eastern classical music and countless other interpretations of folk culture thriving in and outside Nepal.

These events are sponsored by various fundraising shows held throughout Kathmandu featuring popular Nepali acts arranged by the organising team. The fundraiser shows for this upcoming edition are currently taking place in many venues within the city. For further details on the festival check out the EITV social handles or their official site and follow, support as well as share this great initiative. See you in Kirtipur!