Leading the Symphony of Sustainability: Roshan Natalkar on Echoes of Earth

With over two decades of expertise in brand marketing, experiential design, and events, Roshan Natalkar has established a remarkable reputation as a pioneer in the industry. As the driving force behind Swordfish Events and the visionary founder of Echoes of Earth, Natalkar leads India’s greenest music festival – a unique platform that seamlessly blends music, art, and conservation to spark meaningful conversations about sustainability.

Now in its 7th edition, Echoes of Earth has further strengthened its partnership with Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport), which has served as its Sustainable Experience Partner for five years. This collaboration highlights the harmony between sustainability and creativity, featuring live performances, eco-conscious workshops, and artistic showcases throughout November.

In this exclusive interview with Adgully, Roshan Natalkar, Managing Director of Swordfish Events & Entertainment and Festival Director of Echoes of Earth Music Festival, shares insights into the innovative campaigns, strategic collaborations, and unwavering commitment that have propelled Echoes of Earth to become a cultural and environmental landmark.

How do you market Echoes of Earth as India’s greenest music festival, and what strategies do you use to attract eco-conscious audiences and brands? How important is sustainability as part of your marketing message?

At Echoes of Earth, we use the power of music, art, and conservation to spark meaningful conversations about preserving our planet. Our thoughtfully curated festival unites diverse audiences in a shared mission of responsible celebration.

Initiatives like The Greener Side by Echoes and our Minicerts program play a vital role in engaging a wider audience across India. These educational formats use art, music, and conservation to connect with youth and foster impactful dialogues around sustainability.

One example of an innovative marketing strategy is our crowd sourced e-waste collection drive, which encouraged individuals to dispose of their e-waste in exchange for festival passes. This initiative also included awareness workshops on responsible e-waste management, inspiring conversations about the e-waste problem in India and encouraging youth to think critically through this initiative.

Such efforts ignite discussions about our festival’s commitment to environmental responsibility, ensuring sustainability remains at the heart of Echoes of Earth. Our community resonates with these efforts, becoming advocates who promote our festival organically.

In terms of advertising and sponsorship, how do you ensure that the brands partnering with Echoes of Earth align with the festival’s sustainability values? Could you share how your partnership with BIAL enhances the uniqueness of the festival’s brand?

At Echoes of Earth, we value partnerships with brands that resonate with our commitment to responsible celebration. We aim to collaborate with those who embody positive intent and contribute to meaningful initiatives that reflect our shared vision, which is sustainability & conservation.

Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) is a fantastic example of sustainability in action, this terminal not only reflects Karnataka’s rich heritage and culture but also serves as a model for environmental and ecological stewardship. The partnership between BLR Airport and Echoes of Earth seamlessly blends sustainability with music, art, and community, inspiring lasting change and creating experiences that resonate with visitors, fostering a deeper connection to nature.

Summary of the some of the joint initiatives are as below:

• Curated Live Performances: Throughout November, travelers at BLR Airport can enjoy live performances by Echoes of Earth artists at The Quad and 080 Lounge, blending art and music to promote sustainability.
• E-Waste to Art: Discarded e-waste from BLR Airport's collection drive will be transformed into artistic installations at the Echoes of Earth festival, highlighting creativity and sustainability through circularity.
• #GuardiansOfTheWild: In collaboration with Refex Electric Vehicles, BLR Airport, and Echoes of Earth, electric vehicles will become mobile art pieces showcasing Karnataka's native species and biodiversity.
• Namma Shikshana x The Greener Side: Educational workshops will invite youth to engage in hands-on DIY projects, teaching sustainable waste management practices and empowering them for a greener future.
• #LivingWithNature: A curated art project at BLR Airport will feature immersive installations made from recycled materials by celebrated Echoes artists, inspiring travelers to protect and coexist with nature.

Echoes of Earth has carved out a niche as a unique, eco-friendly music festival. How do you ensure your festival stands out in a crowded market, and what role does marketing play in reinforcing the festival’s uniqueness?

Echoes of Earth was built on the principle of reuse-reduce-recycle; that it was possible to organize large-scale music formats with conservation at its core.

Today, we stand as India’s first sustainably-produced music festival, driven by a commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible living. All aspects of the festival are built on these principles, and we've been innovating to reduce our carbon footprint year-on-year.

To ensure that Echoes of Earth stands out in a crowded market of music festivals, innovative marketing strategies come into play:

• Storytelling and Content Creation: Our marketing approach revolves around storytelling that highlights the festival's unique offerings—celebrating endangered species, showcasing art installations, and emphasizing biodiversity conservation.
• Interactive Campaigns: We utilize interactive campaigns, with The Greener Side workshops and activities, to educate and involve our audience in conservation efforts, creating a personal connection to our mission. Or the Seasonal Soundscapes campaign, where we’re gathering diverse, crowd-sourced recordings of nature’s soundscapes to create a unique listening experience that celebrates the changing seasons. Campaigns like these not only inform but also empower our visitors to contribute to the cause.

How do you leverage digital and social media platforms to engage with festival-goers before, during, and after the event? Could you share any unique advertising or engagement strategies that have helped you create a lasting connection with your audience?

We engage with our community throughout the year. Our initiative, The Greener Side, is dedicated towards multi-city experiential workshops to raise awareness, inspire conservation action and deepen our connection with nature. We have pre-festival activations coming up in Delhi-Mumbai that will include a “Symphony of Seasons” panel discussion followed by a Vieux Farka Toure show. Right now itself, we have two community-led campaigns live: A drive for e-waste collection, to be recycled into art installations at Echoes of Earth. And through the Seasonal Soundscapes campaign, we aim to gather diverse, crowd-sourced recordings of nature’s soundscapes to create a unique listening experience that celebrates the changing seasons. Our pan-India presence has grown through these knowledge-transfer formats.

Sustainability is a core part of Echoes of Earth’s identity. How do you use advertising and branding within the festival space itself to promote eco-friendly messages and encourage brands to adopt sustainable practices?

Echoes of Earth is a zero-plastic, zero-waste music festival, and every person coming to the event is made aware of it. And our aim is to be zero-print with our festival design being hand-drawn, and 70-80% of our raw materials is discarded waste that is transformed into art.

We have solar-powered spaces on-site, including one of our music stages. Biogas is being introduced in our food court this year, and we have a dedicated team that ensures responsible waste management so that none of the waste generated at the event ends up in landfills. All our brand partners are also aligned on our sustainable practices too. You’ll find communication for all of the above within the festival space.

 As Echoes of Earth continues to grow, what role does advertising and marketing play in expanding your reach, both locally and globally? How do you plan to amplify your message of sustainability through future marketing efforts and collaborations?

Being an experience-centric festival, our community becomes micro-influencers by design, because they believe in the ethos of our festival. These individuals embody the spirit of our festival, and their passion helps amplify our message. Word of Mouth has been a crucial element in our success; it’s authentic and powerful.

But of course, advertising & PR play an important role for us, locally and globally. In fact, our partnership with Bangalore International Airport serves as a key element in this strategy. And we do see more and more international folks opting to come to Echoes. We were proud to represent India in the Globe Trotter Programme at the renowned Les Escales Festival in France, marking a historic milestone as India's debut in this esteemed global exchange initiative, so we definitely plan to do many more international collaborations going forward.

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