Bandcamp begins its fourth season this weekend.
Once night falls in the coastal village of Uttan in Bhayander, the silence is broken most weekends only by the crackle of a bonfire, and a small group of people watching a film on a large screen under the open sky. For a few months in the past few years, the U-Tan Sea Resort in the village transforms into a camping site, just an hour away from the official end of the Mumbai city limits.
Bandcamp, an overnight campsite featuring musical performances and film screenings hosted at the resort, begins its fourth season this weekend and will run through April. “It has become an alternate venue where people can come and experience bands in a different setting and environment,” says Vikrant Chheda of Mumbai-based travel agency White Collar Hippie, which organises Bandcamp.
The firm zeroed in on the resort with the intention of setting up a campsite close to the city, a venue within easy reach as opposed to the majority of campsites in the wilderness. Campers are advised to reach the resort by 4 pm and are free to explore its environs, play board games, swim in the resort’s swimming pool and lie on hammocks before the group sets out on a sunset stroll to the fishing village. “People are very curious to see that process,” says Chheda.
By the time campers return, the first of the bands are ready to perform. On Fridays, the gigs are followed by a film screening, while on Saturdays, bands play for three hours before the campers turn in.
“We do a lot of fun workshops and show people the basics of camping. We have a lot of people coming in who have never gone camping before,” he says. Campers are also urged to bring warm clothing and shoes and insect repellant in preparation for spending the night inside a tent. Campers usually check out by noon the next day after a walk around the beach at sunrise. “Apart from the tents, there are spaces where people can relax by themselves and just watch the stars if they want to. They can play games all night long or speak to the musicians and jam by the bonfire,” adds Chheda.
Most Friday nights, the camp has between 30 and 40 people, and no more than 70 on Saturday for music nights. “It has to be an intimate space where you make friends. We restrict it to a small audience,” he says. The fourth season of Bandcamp’s movie nights begins with the screening of Easy Rider, the 1969 classic starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as bikers riding through America. Chheda says that movie nights have proven popular, with several people returning to watch films they are interested in. “We choose pop culture films, others that are fun to watch in a group and films which have a great soundtrack. So far we have 20 per cent campers who come on Fridays only to watch a film, but the rest come for the whole experience,” he says.
Chheda adds that the popularity of Bandcamp and other campsites have provided an alternate nightlife option in the city. “Looking at the the number of campsites that have come up in the last few years, there is definitely a demand. People have always been interested and open to camping. And this is a different experience than going clubbing,” he says.