Ziro Festival of Music: indie bliss in a Himalayan valley

Tucked away in a picture-perfect valley in Arunachal Pradesh, the Ziro Festival of Music is India's most idyllic outdoor gathering — an independent-music festival set among rolling rice fields and pine-covered hills, far from the noise of the metros.

Ziro is a celebration of independent music, hosting homegrown and international indie, rock, folk and electronic acts on open-air stages framed by some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. The scale is intimate, the pace unhurried, and the emphasis firmly on discovery and community over spectacle.

Getting to Ziro is an adventure through the Northeast's hills, and that remoteness is exactly what makes it special. The crowd camps, connects and immerses in both the music and the local Apatani culture. It's less a festival you attend than a place you go to reset.

• ›Plan the journey carefully — it's remote and reaching it takes time.
• ›Camp and embrace the slow pace; that's the point.
• ›Respect the local community and environment.

For indie lovers and travellers alike, Ziro is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of festival.