Aarey Forest to Host Mumbai’s First Open-Air Music Festival in 2025, Blending Nature, Culture and Community

Mumbai will witness a cultural moment unlike any in its recent history as Aarey Forest prepares to host its first-ever open-air music festival from December 12 to 14, 2025. Long regarded as the city’s green lung and a site of ecological debates, Aarey is now set to transform into a vibrant cultural arena. The three-day Aarey Music Festival will take place at the open-air amphitheatre in Unit 5 of Aarey Milk Colony, featuring folk and fusion music, dance performances, art workshops and community-led cultural showcases.

The initiative marks a significant shift in how the forest is perceived, moving beyond its portrayal as contested land toward recognising it as a living, breathing cultural space shaped over generations by the adivasi communities who call it home.

A Nature-Rooted Festival That Reimagines Aarey

Unlike conventional urban festivals, the Aarey Music Festival aims to immerse visitors in an ecosystem where nature, tradition and creativity intersect. Organisers describe the event as an invitation to experience Aarey’s cultural landscape rather than simply observe it. The forest will become both stage and storyteller, providing a rare opportunity for Mumbai’s residents to witness performances deeply rooted in the region’s indigenous heritage.

This nature-first orientation sets the festival apart in a city where cultural events typically unfold in concrete settings. Aarey’s unique location creates a different kind of acoustic and sensory experience, one shaped by tree canopies, open skies and the rhythms of forest life.

A Celebration of Instruments, Dance and Creative Arts

The festival will highlight traditional instruments such as the tarpa, a curved wind instrument central to Warli celebrations, and the nadaswaram, a powerful double-reed instrument widely used in South Indian classical performances. These sessions allow visitors to hear, understand and appreciate music forms that seldom appear on mainstream urban stages.

Dance performances will include Mohiniattam, one of Kerala’s classical art forms known for its fluid grace, and the Warli tarpa dance, which symbolises community bonding and seasonal celebration. Through these performances, the festival aims to cultivate an understanding of the cultural expressions that have animated Aarey for generations.

Complementing the performances, workshops in origami, mural art and traditional board games will run across the three days. Artists will also create new murals and graffiti on amphitheatre walls, interweaving urban artistic styles with adivasi symbols to create a living forest gallery. This dynamic, participatory approach gives visitors a sense of co-creation rather than passive viewing.

Organisers Rooted in Aarey and Its Communities

The festival is being organised by a collective of environmental volunteers, artists, Save Aarey movement members and residents of Aarey’s hamlets. This grounding ensures that the event stays aligned with the cultural identity and environmental sensitivities of the region.

With free entry and a “donate as you wish” model, organisers have already raised nearly Rs 3.5 lakh. Registrations may soon be capped to prevent overcrowding and to ensure that the ecological footprint remains minimal.
Co-organiser Vasudha Rajeev told Hindustan Times, “This is the first initiative of its kind in Mumbai. Our theme is community, bringing people together through nature.” Her statement reflects the festival’s emphasis on shared stewardship rather than commercial spectacle.

A Festival with an Implicit Message of Protection

The timing of the festival is meaningful. It takes place months after renewed controversies around tree cutting, infrastructure expansion and the residential rights of Adivasi families in Aarey. While the festival will not feature protest imagery, the act of gathering inside the forest, understanding its stories, meeting its people, celebrating its beauty, becomes a powerful form of environmental affirmation.

For Akash Bhoir, a farmer, third-generation resident and one of the organisers, the message is clear: Aarey is not just land; it is a source of food, memory, livelihood and refuge for both humans and wildlife. The festival becomes a platform for Mumbai’s urban population to see Aarey as its residents do: a community landscape deserving protection.

A New Cultural Chapter for Aarey’s Amphitheatre

While smaller cultural programmes have been held at the amphitheatre in the past, this marks the first time it will host a multi-day festival of significant scale. Organisers hope visitors will approach the event with mindfulness, coming not only for entertainment but also for a peaceful experience that deepens understanding of the forest and its people.

The amphitheatre’s natural contours, surrounded by dense tree cover, offer an ambience rarely found within Mumbai’s city limits. This setting is expected to enhance the festival’s appeal, offering respite from the fast-paced urban environment.

Event Details and What Visitors Can Expect

The three-day festival will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, offering a full schedule of performances, workshops and community interactions. Visitors can expect an atmosphere that is celebratory yet reflective, combining artistic expression with ecological awareness.

Aarey Music Festival

Date: December 12–14, 2025
Time: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Venue: Open-Air Amphitheatre, Unit 5, Aarey Milk Colony, Mumbai

The festival represents a meaningful new chapter for Aarey, one that celebrates its living heritage while advocating for its continued protection. By bringing citizens into the forest through music, dance and creative expression, the organisers hope to strengthen the collective bond between Mumbai and one of its most vital natural landscapes.