MUMBAI: The drive through narrow ghats of Lonavala towards the Saltar Lake provided the necessary relief for the ticket holders, after the journey to locate 'The Lost Party' went beyond its expected time. To their defence, the lack of accessibility continued to serve the festival's purpose for the second edition - shifted to Saltar Lake - and the creative brains behind the promotion of 'The Lost Party' extended their ability to  the attendees with the signs of 'Idhar' and 'Udhar' to direct the vehicles to the destination.

In association with Pepsi MTV Indies, The three-day festival opened its stages for the musicians on Day 2, and as the sun started setting on the 'Udhar' stage where Kabir's Cafe, joined by Swanand Kirkire, educated the masses of Sant Kabir and his 'dohas' through contemporary music that the Mumbai-based band gained its popularity for. With Swanand Kirkire in the mix, the poetry and the lyrical beauty of the Kabir's Cafe set helped shape the mood of the opening day, thence the festival.

Aswekeepsearching

The quality of line-up was never doubted, and the intent behind not releasing the schedule - albeit not a stroke-of-genius - added an another element in the festival's effort to stay away from the standard music-festival formats. Belgian synth-master dEbruit headlined the Day Two on his very first performance on the Indian soil. dEbruit's sound offers several unique elements and the majority of the attendees at the 'Idhar' stage (focused on Techno) had an hour-long experience of the sound that dEbruit desribes as "Time Space Influenced". An hour before, Canadian rapper 'Humble The Poet' took over the stage and one of the most awaited acts of the festival did not fail to impress, however, The Poet couldn't draw the entire attendees to the stage. Brodha V set the stage on fire with the newly collaborated product with Benny Dayal titled 'Round Round' on the other stage.

Call it a pure coincidence or conscious decision, the best was saved for the last. The third day of the festival promised Aswekeepsearching, Karsh Kale, Fakear, Moglebaum, Yesterdrive, HVOB, Donn Bhat + The Passenger Revelator, Curtain Blue and few more. Yesterdrive took over the 'Udhar' stage, and the deserted area gradually filled with revelers stepping out of the camping area, thanks to the pungent sound from the Delhi-based band. Had the band not mentioned it, the audience would have never recognised the vocalist Molee Lollen felt under the weather throughout the day.

Yesterdrive

The acts continued to galvanize the crowd with Aswekeepsearching making the most of the current post-rock rage that engulfed the millennials and the music festivals (commercial or otherwise) alike. To choose one of the acts performing at the same time has always been the toughest decision for someone at the music festival, and that stayed true with The Lost Party (Donn Bhat + The Passenger Revelator clashed with OX7GEN, while Karsh Kale had to share the 'The Lost People' with Austrian electronica act HVOB). Stands for 'Her Voice Over Boys', HVOB released their second studio album, last year and the success since has put the duo on the map of the electronica scene.

Moglebaum

French electronica phenomenon Fakear could not arrive in the country citing visa issues. However, the loss was not felt for long with the third day providing an almost ideal-experience sonically.

The second edition of the festival focused more on the art installations, compared to the first edition, and the intent was evident with choreographed acts, live painting, visual art-play, street performers synchronising with the musicians on the stage, thus enhancing the beauty of the respective acts.

Resting Area at the Food Court

Rope-walks, a galloping horse, early morning yoga lessons, hammocks overlooking the lake, talkies running documentaries and short films offered comfort and a relaxed environment, usually seen missing from music festivals.

Art installation at The Lost Party

The party did not stop with the conclusion of the headlining acts of the day, as the moon shone bright and insomniacs were treated with the Silent Party at the end of the day. The Silent Party, surely, remains the future as music festivals thrive to provide effectively unique ways to attract the fans, and despite a few transportation, camping and organisational issues, the second edition of The Lost Party provided enough for the first-timers to look forward to the next edition, and also provided a little to the returnees to compare the outcome with the previous edition.

Silk Rope Dance