Not so Sunny in Goa

Ever since,there have been court hearings,permission tussles,allegations of cheating and a lot more. But the matter has finally been resolved,at least on the surface. LIVE Viacom 18’s Supersonic has managed to bag the contested venue,while Percept Live’s Sunburn,in its seventh year,has been uprooted but has found a much larger home in Vagator,about 10 km away from Candolim.

Even with the last minute change in venue,Sunburn — which will be held from December 27-29 — has managed to make the festival much bigger than before,at least on paper. “The festival is making use of the bigger venue with a camp site for festival goers,and add ons,which include adventure sports such as rappelling,hot air balloons,a giant wheel,among other attractions,” says Shailendra Singh,Joint MD,Percept India Ltd and “inceptor of Sunburn”. And if you have the bucks,you could even book a cruise. With artistes such as Axwell (one-third of Swedish House Mafia),Pete Tong (the UK veteran house DJ) and James Zabiela (the house meets breakbeat DJ) and a host of Indian musicians,the festa is raring to go.

Supersonic,with Chinapa in a curatorial role,will be held from December 26-30. In contrast to Sunburn’s scale,the new property is looking to create a community feeling. To do so,LIVE Viacom has roped in graphic designer Sameer Kulavoor,who will interpret why Goa became famous in the first place — the easy going,hippy vibe. “My focus is to bring music back to the people who care about it,and not who come to experience a spectacle,” Chinapa said in an earlier interview to The Indian Express.

Supersonic’s going for big names too,which includes Above & Beyond that had stellar gigs in Mumbai,Delhi and Bangalore earlier this year. The line-up also features Benny Benassi (the Italian DJ most known for his club hit Satisfaction),Booka Shade (the German EDM duo),BT (a veteran who has produced for the likes of Sting and Tori Amos),among others. While the frills are lesser,so are the ticket prices at Rs 5,500 for a general five-day pass. Sunburn passes are almost double at Rs 9,250.

But in the shadows of this sunny festival,there is still an unresolved fight. Just a week ago,Supersonic had to resubmit their papers for the licences of the festival because Sunburn alleged that their plans were stolen. Supersonic and LIVE Viacom soon released a note with ‘Percept Makes False Allegations’ as their subject line. A court case is still being fought. Singh says,“This isn’t a vendetta. We are just trying to protect our interests. It is something we have built from the ground up,and we will fight to keep our intellectual property safe.”

Jaideep Singh,Senior Vice President and Business Head,LIVE Viacom 18,says that Supersonic for them was a natural extension of what they were doing. “Starlight Events & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd,who had the venue,asked us to partner for a festival. We were planning to hold an EDM property as part of LIVE Viacom,a division that is creating content for our existing properties anyway.”

With politicians saying that two festivals would never take place in Goa at the same time,it seemed like one of them would get cancelled,but they have managed to come out of it. “I am not playing at either festivals because I didn’t want to choose sides. I have been friends with Nikhil for many years,and have been doing business with Sunburn as well. I didn’t want it to come to a point where I would upset one of the parties involved,” says DJ Arjun Vagale.

Though Singh sounds jubilant about Sunburn,it’s obvious that the Candolim venue meant more. He says,“I’m certainly not impressed by the arrogance of the people involved. We had seven years of tempo going into this fest at the venue. I don’t understand their desperation.”

The difference between the two festivals will be scale. While both LIVE Viacom 18 and Percept Live claim that their festivals are going to be very different,it will be the vibe that will set them apart.