International performers were just as popular, Ars Nova Napoli bringing the city’s street music to the Jodhpur RIFF stage, of course with the entire Zenana Bagh on its feet tapping along. Another Neapolitan group was there too, and it’s unusual for the festival to have performers from the same country, leave alone the same city.  Suonno D’Ajere, a trio of Irene Scarpato, Marcello Smigliante Gentile and Gian Marco Libeccio, blended bold vocals with classical guitar and the mandolin. Simplicity and directness is often a hallmark of the performer, and Australian singer and guitarist John Lang, accompanied with Greg Sheehan on the cajon, held the viewers spellbound with their ballads, with subjects often cutting deep.

And, for those who have loved dancing away the night under the starlit desert skies, the club component has also grown, with the offering growing to a collaboration, a band and a DJ, reveals Bhatia. Club Mehran, a regular feature of the festival, brought Tropical Sounds by Nkumba System, a vibrant fusion of Afrobeat and Dancehall, the blending African and Latin American music.

The audience, in the pre Covid era, comprised about 70 per cent domestic audience and the rest coming in from all parts of the world. “Last year we were apprehensive that we were not doing to touch those numbers for international visitors,” muses Bhatia. “But the festival did. A thing that naturally emerged is that for this edition, we have a lot of collaborations with Indian artists. This is part of the growth of the landscape and ecosystem, where all people want to collaborate, including Indians, which was not the case 10 years ago. We will see more Indian artists, but we also see as many international artists as we have seen earlier. I think we have a more mature programme.”

Bhatia feels that the experience of the lockdown and Jodhpur RIFF being one of the festivals that has been able to return, there is a greater interest in the festival. “There is more acknowledgement internationally than we had. Whether that will translate into a more international audience, time will tell.”

Going strong

A decade-and-a-half is significant enough time for a festival and Bhatia takes time out to dwell on its legacy. “In these years, the national and international landscape for the folk artist has changed and we have been instrumental in facilitating some of that change. We were amongst the first, not just as a music festival, just as an international music festival, but also the only festival that really put its eggs into this basket in a town which nobody had on their radar including tourism, who only saw it as a half day destination. And 15 years later, many more of these Rajasthani folk artists are invited to festivals all over. The landscape has changed. Now these artists are in demand all over.”

Like many other festivals that were impacted by Covid induced lockdowns, RIFF too took a sabbatical for a couple of years. The festival made a return last year, with learnings from the downtime. “While we couldn’t do the festival for three years, we were able to support artists by raising money – about £40,000 and were able to support about 2,500 individuals – some for a few months, some for a little more” says Festival Director Divya Bhatia.

“What it brought home to us was how critical it was that the three pillars on which we have done the festival – getting them recognition, facilitating respect for what they are and what they do and then eventually some livelihood. That came home strongly. Some of the artists began to think of other professions – whatever they could get. We realised we had to become more relevant. Festivals have emerged – some better than others. What we are going to grow into is important.”

Bhatia also points out that there is greater hope that many of these folk artists will continue the lineage of traditional music, whose demise seemed imminent a few years ago. “There’s hope. People like Mamme (Khan) Kutle (Khan) have become visible. It has given younger musicians hope, a sense of purpose.” As audiences gather once again in Jodhpur, that is a legacy any cultural institution, especially a festival can rightly take a bow for.