Jodhpur RIFF — October
Every October, when the night of Sharad Purnima brings the year’s brightest full moon over the Thar Desert, Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur comes alive with music. The Rajasthan International Folk Festival, known simply as RIFF, was founded in 2007 under the patronage of Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Marwar-Jodhpur and has since grown into India’s most celebrated roots music festival, with Sir Mick Jagger as its international patron and UNESCO recognition for its role in promoting sustainable cultural development.
Over five evenings, more than 350 musicians from Rajasthan, India, and across the world perform in the courtyards, ramparts, and open terraces of this 15th-century fort. The heart of the festival belongs to Rajasthan’s own traditional performers, the Manganiyar and Langa communities, whose hereditary musical traditions stretch back centuries, alongside masters of Maand, Panihari, and Pabuji Phach. Around them, international artists from across the globe are brought into creative dialogue, producing collaborations that feel entirely unrepeatable. Dawn concerts, held as the fort catches its first light, have become one of RIFF’s most cherished traditions.
For visitors, listening to ancient Rajasthani folk music under a full moon, from the ramparts of one of Asia’s great forts, is as close to magic as a music festival gets.
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