The 10th edition of the festival featured 13 live performances by 100 artists from Nepal, as well as singers from South Korea, India, and Switzerland.
Music festival 'Echoes in the Valley – Festival of Music 2026' has concluded
The 10th edition of the festival featured 100 artists from Nepal, 13 live performances by singers from South Korea, India and Switzerland.
The festival, which was held on January 23 and 24 in Khokna, Lalitpur, also featured 15 different experiences. About 8,000 spectators attended the festival, said Bhushan Shilpakar, producer of 'Echoes in the Valley - Festival of Music'.
Shilpakar said that as the festival entered its 10th year, it has succeeded in connecting not only Nepalis but also other countries with Nepal through music. 'This time, artists have also come from Switzerland and South Korea. This is a new achievement connected to these two countries. Now our artists will also be able to go and perform in these two countries,' he said.
Bhushan's group has had the experience of the festival starting to take root at the local level this time. This time, he received a request from Panauti to organize 'Echoes in the Valley'. There was also a request from Bandipur to organize this program. He says that such requests are also coming due to local culture and collaboration with locals. He says, ‘When we organize a program once, we get a business of 5 to 8 lakhs. Many people come to the street festival, that’s why we get calls requesting us to organize this program.’
This time, ‘Echoes in the Valley’ has reached there after Khokana also invited it in a similar way. In fact, this festival is not focused on one place. The festival aims to tour the city by organizing programs in the city squares. For example, this time, ‘Echoes in the Valley’ did not only reach Khokana, it organized a ‘Heritage Walk’ as a program to introduce the cities there. Where the attendees gathered information about the civilization and culture of Khokana.
In fact, this festival was born in 2017. At that time, the music group ‘Kanta Dab Dab’ wanted to organize a musical performance along with the ‘Street Festival’. A festival where people in the square don't have to pay to listen to music. People in the square can also enjoy music. At that time, Bhushan was the co-founder of Photo Circle. The band told Bhushan this idea. Together, they started this festival from Asan. Those who wanted to attend the program with various activities along with the music were allowed free entry. Then they reached Banepa to organize the program. Then the third edition was held in Kathmandu. A virtual festival was organized amidst Covid. Then the program reached Khokana via Kirtipur and Bungamati. From 2023, the festival has been extended for 2 days. At that time, this program was held for two days in Teku and Asan and has been operating as a 2-day festival since then.
'This year's festival was good. For us, it doesn't mean that people don't come to this festival. The design of the festival is community-based in such a way that their presence is guaranteed,' said Bhushan, 'We enter a new city every year. Although they were initially skeptical, the locals started to trust us once people started coming.' This year, a workshop on music was also organized, focusing on women. Singer Arko Mukherjee was also present to perform at the festival this year.
