The Discovery Zone
If you have bought a ticket for Village India this entitles you to visit the Discovery Zone.

The Discovery Zone is a place where people can explore their heritage and learn something new! We believe it is important to develop traditions in the arts and keep them alive, so we’ve set up this special area with the support of the Arts Council of England (ACE).

Musicians and dancers from the UK and India will lead a range of workshops in the Discovery Zone and will also perform on the Village Stage and Main Stage within Village India to showcase some of the fantastic talent we have here at the festival. You will have a great opportunity to meet and learn from the artists within the discovery zone and get to see them perform on the concert stages, enhancing your connection and appreciation of the work they do. There will also be information and profiles of all artists involved that you can take away too.

Discovery Zone workshops
There will be twelve workshops focusing on music and dance throughout the weekend. These will cover a range of educational activities primarily designed to introduce, inform and engage participants. Don’t worry what age you are or if you are a complete beginner, the workshops are designed to accommodate everyone and to be a highly enjoyable educational experience.

Check out the Village Timetable in the programme guide at the event, see what inspires you and come and enjoy learning in the Discovery Zone!

Music Workshops
Music workshops will be a great way to introduce you to Indian and western instruments and how they are used together. You don’t have to be a musician to come and experience these sessions but they are also suitable for budding and more experienced instrumentalists. The sessions will demonstrate Indian classical and Western instruments while drawing on the wider musical influences present here in the UK.

Workshops will cover a range of instruments in the context of Indian classical & folk and UK/Indian/jazz fusion. A wide range of instruments will be included such as:- tabla, sarod, santoor, sitar, violin, western flute, guitar and saxophone.

The Dance workshops will introduce a range of styles.
Desi Masti is a dance company who have an excellent reputation for their work in the UK will lead workshops on Bharat Natyam, Kathak, and Bollywood. The Dhanyadhara company from India will cover workshops on folk dances of India which will have great participatory appeal.

Demonstrations of the dance forms and explanations of the background behind them will be presented in an accessible and practical way suitable for a wide range of people.