Put on your dancing shoes, Sunburn festival is back

GOA - Are you a music buff? Block your dates as India’s biggest musical event Sunburn is back and promises to keep up your spirits high on the sun-kissed beach of Candolim with electrifying music, renowned DJ’s and other activities.

The three-day festival was launched in 2007 with an aim to do something “different” in the country.

The popularity of the festival, starting Dec 27, can be gauged from the fact that it is ranked by the CNN as the 9th best in the world. Some of the popular musical festivals all around globe are “Bonnaroo” in Tennessee, US; “Glastonbury” in Somerset, Britain; and “Roskilde” in Denmark.

“When we started off, all we knew was that it was an interesting idea and nothing of this sort had ever been done here. So we went ahead with the aim of doing something different. Fortunately, we knew that electronic music is going to be the next big thing and today you can see that,” Devraj Sanyal, Group CEO of Percept Sports and Entertainment, told IANS over the phone from Mumbai.

“And when you think of an event like this, Goa was the logical choice. People from all over the world come here during New Year and music is one platform where everyone binds together. You won’t believe we have around 6,000 people from all parts of Europe participating in the festival,” he added.

Earlier, the fest saw heavyweight international DJs like Armin Van Burren, Ferry Corsten, Axwell and BT and this year too a lot of national and international DJs and rock bands are expected to perform live.

“This time we have as many as 60 artists performing and a lot many activities like volleyball, rock climbing, mechanical bull, dress up lounge, flea market and a lot may things. As a lot of people believe Sunburn is only about music, no, this is wrong,” he said.

“We want people to have an experience here. I want them to enjoy the electrifying music, good company, indulge in activities and listen to some really good music,” he added.

Goa’s New Year parties are often criticised for being “rave” parties, but Sanyal claims their festival is very clean.

“We can proudly say that ours is a completely clean party zone as we have various CCTV monitors keeping an eye on the visitors and they are frisked well before they enter the venue.”

“But in case we caught someone taking drugs at the venue, he is barred from the festival and can never be a part of it again. We are very strict and hence we have got great support from the ministry here as well,” he said.

The ticket for the festival is priced at Rs.4,500, excluding taxes.