The Sixth Sense – India’s First Multidisciplinary Immersive Festival to Debut in Bengaluru

The Sixth Sense is set to reimagine India’s creative and cultural landscape as the country’s first and largest multidisciplinary immersive festival, blending art, music, technology, and nature into a single transformative experience. Scheduled from 5th to 22nd February 2026, the festival has been two years in the making and is curated by Swordfish, the creative agency behind India’s greenest circular music festival, Echoes of Earth.

Conceived for a generation that lives at the intersection of the digital and natural worlds, the festival will be held at Alembic City, Whitefield, Bengaluru, a 60-year-old iconic glass factory integrating adaptive reuse, industrial design, sustainability, and heritage. Spread across 200,000+ sq. ft., the venue will transform into stages, galleries, and immersive spaces hosting over 30 art-tech experiences, 6+ live music performances, masterclasses and workshops, a 360° dome experience, 20+ waste-to-art installations and more.

At its core, The Sixth Sense explores how art and technology can deepen human emotion and renew our connection with the natural world. In a country as vast and vibrant as ours, cities are growing faster than ever, towers rise, and life moves at a relentless pace. Amid this progress, our bond with nature has quietly faded.

The Sixth Sense responds to this growing disconnection by creating experiences that make nature and conservation tangible, engaging, and easy to understand. It invites audiences to pause, interact, and rediscover their innate connection with the natural world through sensory installations, digital art, spatial sound performances, and participatory workshops, each designed to inspire curiosity, empathy, and connection, all while having fun.

Commenting on the upcoming edition, Roshan Netalkar, Founder & Director of Echoes of Earth and Swordfish, shared “Building on a decade of Echoes, we are excited to step into a new chapter with The Sixth Sense, an 18-day celebration that explores nature in its most intelligent and expressive form. In a world where AI is reshaping our conversations, this festival becomes our way of decoding nature’s intelligence into stories and immersive experiences. We bring together art, music, technology and culture in a multidisciplinary journey, with the planet at the heart of every expression.”

Udit Amin, Managing Director, Alembic Global Holdings SA, said, “The Sixth Sense Immersive Showcase represents a powerful intersection of art, technology, and human experience. At Alembic City, our vision has always been to cultivate environments that inspire connection, innovation, and cultural exchange. Hosting India’s first and largest multidisciplinary immersive showcase is a natural extension of that mission. This collaboration marks the beginning of a vibrant cultural movement at Alembic City, and we look forward to many more experiences that challenge perceptions and spark imagination.”

At The Sixth Sense, audiences will be transported into a world where art, music, technology, and nature converge. Headlining the immersive showcase will be Max Cooper, electronic composer, multidisciplinary artist, and former scientist, whose performance blends sound, visuals, and emotion. Holding a PhD in computational biology, Cooper will guide audiences through a journey where science, music, and art meet in unexpected ways.

Festivalgoers will also encounter Adrift, an audiovisual installation by media artist Sasha Kojjio and creative producer Alisa Davydova, presented by their Barcelona-based Metanoeia Studio. Powered by a custom generative algorithm simulating melting glaciers, the installation immerses viewers in a contemplative landscape, reflecting the fragility of nature and humanity’s imprint on the planet.

Production Designer and New Media Artist Stephen Bontly’s The Banyan Tree, a uniquely commissioned installation emerging from Bengaluru’s Alembic City glass factory, will fuse light, sound, and technology to explore humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This participatory experience invites visitors to engage with the intelligence and resilience symbolised by the Banyan Tree in Indian culture.

Sounds of the Ocean, by ocean artist and composer Joshua Sam Miller and co-director Elise Lein, adds a powerful global voice to the showcase. This award-winning immersive experience blends art, music, and mindfulness to transport audiences into a serene underwater world guided by the sounds of whales and dolphins. Recognised as an official UN Ocean Decade Activity, the work has travelled across 26 countries—from COP28 to Burning Man—and contributes to ocean clean-ups through its partnerships with global non-profit organizations.

Bringing a global lens to the festival, The Sixth Sense marks a landmark collaboration with The NODE Institute (Germany), who will present India’s first-ever TouchDesigner sessions. As part of the immersive festival, this initiative builds bridges between India’s creative coding communities and global pioneers in digital art and experience design. Curated by The NODE Institute, the programme will feature beginner and advanced masterclasses, interactive panels, and sessions led by international experts, covering experience design, data visualisation, lighting, AI, and live visual performance. The workshops will run from 5–11 February, leading into the TouchDesigner Sessions India on 12 and 13 February.

Representing The NODE Institute (Germany), Stefan Kraus, Co-Founder and Creative Director, noted, “India has always felt to us like a distant, almost mythical place — rich, complex, and full of mystery. Now, being able to connect with the real, contemporary India and its vibrant creative community feels both exciting and profoundly moving. The Sixth Sense brings together two poles of our world — the innovative technology that not only fascinates us, but that we use to create immersive, alternative worlds born from our dreams, and the nature that inspires and nurtures us, and that we urgently need to protect if we want to have a future. It’s a beautiful setting for building lasting connections of inspiration and community across cultures."

With more than 35,000 explorers, creators, and dreamers expected to participate, The Sixth Sense is set to redefine India’s creative & cultural landscape, celebrating the confluence of art, music, science, and technology, and inspiring a renewed sense of curiosity, connection, and care for the planet.

Dates: February 5th-22nd, 2026
Venue: Alembic City, Whitefield, Bengaluru