Live music and mild summer evenings are a superb combination. But The Last Resort has found a way to make it even better. On the weekend of 28-29 April, the resort is hosting the second Sundance Music Festival, the only overnight open-air music event in Nepal, says marketing director Sam Voolstra.

It began two years ago when Voolstra and Nirakar Yakthumba of 1974AD thought a European-style open-air music event would go down a treat. We wanted to do something like Glastonbury, explains Voolstra. The Moksh@TheLas Resort event will feature fewer bands than Glastonbury, but hopefully also less rain and mud than the infamously messy UK festival.

This year, in addition to Nepali and Indian artists like Stupa, Cadenza, Inner Groove, Lew Hilt, and Arpana, all of whom play varieties of contemporary music, the festival will also feature more traditional groups like Kutumba and the young drumming Thimi Boys.

The festival encourages improvisation. Last year, the bands just got together and created a weekend-long jam session, says Voolstra. This time the experiment will be even more interesting, because we have a lot of different music styles.

The success of the 2006 event has turned the festival into a credible platform for all kinds of musical talent, even the bathroom kind?the Sundance Festival allows would-be singers and musicians to join in the sessions.

Tickets cost Rs 2,000 per head, and include a bus ride from The Last Resort Office in Thamel at 9AM on 28 April, all meals, camping accommodation, and weekend-long music. Those with a need for adventure?and large lung capacity?can bicycle the 100km to the resort. The biking group leaves from the Shangri-La Hotel at 7AM on 28 April. Enfielders leave from their Lazimpat workshop at 8AM.For more information, ring 4700525.

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