Its December again and the time for Goa to be hosting the biggest music festivals of the country which are traditionally mired in controversy.
Driving past Anjuna this evening one comes across this mammoth production going on at the old ‘Sunburn’ site, for the upcoming music festival ‘Timeout72’. Ironically a couple of days ago, one receives a news flash of our honorable Tourism Minister’s loud and clear statement that the Timeout72 has not yet been given permissions.
Can this really be serious? We are two weeks away from one of India’s largest music festivals of the year, creating fears that inadvertently affecting ticket sales that in turn affecting hotel and holiday bookings to the State.
Having been a part of many of Goa’s large festivals from concept stage, here’s some professional light on the realities. Does the government realise the implications of these off the cuff knee-jerk public outbursts? Goa has been the undisputed mother of music and celebrations since centuries and it is shameful that the State has turned hostile to making Goa the undisputed festival capital of the country.
After successfully throwing out two of the country’s largest festivals (Sunburn and Supersonic) to our neighboring state of Maharashtra (thereby loosing tons of revenue for the State, though we complain that the government is owed money, festivals of this magnitude do not change a destination due to money owed, the same would apply in other states too. They move out when it becomes unviable to organise thanks to the local disorganisation and lack of relevant support from the authorities. The amount owed is disputed and miniscule compared to what the State would have earned had the festivals happened).
Its time to behave matured and avoid official statements that can tarnish a product that’s taken a huge amount of time, effort, finance and sleepless nights to put together. What’s the harm in the Govt supporting a music festival? it’s a norm all over the world as well as in other states of our own country. About a year back, Hyderabad officially permitted the world famous EDM festival ‘Sensation’ to continue outdoors until 2 am. This November, saw a famous EDM festival take place outdoors in Udaipur right upto 7 am with the police on site on duty!
After a dry spell for two years, the government should welcome any new festival worth international repute and that benefits Goa’s tourism. Timeout72 is bringing to Indian shores the biggest global names of the international music scene. A festival of this magnitude being hampered a few weeks before the event, would amount to sending a disgraceful message worldwide both for India and Goa alike. International artists will not take India seriously anymore and this would be the proverbial death of the Golden Goose.
The music festival business in the UK with its comparatively smaller population, has a value of over 4 billion UKP (Over Rs 30,000 crore), because of the support from all fronts and more importantly, the government knowing the importance of being silent at the right times. Whilst we read tall claims of growing tourism numbers, what is the value in cash growth? Hotels in Goa are as successful as they are, largely thanks to the booming business of the Great Indian Wedding. We have not been able to offer any substantial growth in either quality or quantity on what we have on offer, the least the State can do is support and simplify efforts of entrepreneurs, who take the time, effort and risk to make things happen.Whilst the rest of the world invites and supports such properties, we are only dissuading them.
The government has rightly supported festivals like the Carnival, Serendipity, IFFI and others that have grown and become a part of brand Goa. Since we’ve proven not to be able to support music festivals just because some people like to dance, lets not do any damage either. Music festivals bring in larger numbers and revenue than any of the above. We cannot have authorities making loose statements two weeks before a festival that everyone knows has to happen. Ease out licenses and red tape, the single window has been redefined as ‘additional window’, where it is only an additional permission needed besides all the others. Our advisory committees that guide our honorable authorities on such event permissions, should consist of, besides bureaucrats, professionals from the entertainment industry with the experience and knowledge of large format events and festivals, without which, ease of doing business in one of the fastest growing segments of tourism will only continue to grope in the dark here in Goa.
