PANJIM: Sunburn festival started off on Monday with a bang. But this time it’s not a festival but a day event. A few weeks ago in the cabinet briefing, the Chief Minister himself was on record stating that there won’t be any EDM festivals, especially Sunburn happening this year due to the CoVID situation.
On Monday morning itself, Goa recorded its first case of Omicron variant, and here, one of the biggest music events was being hosted wherein the visitors and crowd were seen openly flaunting the health guidelines and SOPs.
This is the year this festival is hosted by a private club “HillTop” at Small Vagator, not on the usual spot after the government refused permission. The organizers have taken this step because any club, pub, restaurant, or private space can organise or host an event, not a festival.
But what’s surprising is that the organizers ensured the event garners huge party revellers as it has also decided to hold after-parties till December 29 when the commercial event concludes at Hilltop, Vagator.
Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said he was oblivious about the ongoing show. “I am not aware of Sunburn. The government has rejected the permission, but I am told that they (Percept Live) are holding a small event. We, government and tourism department, cannot interfere since it is held on private property,” he told Herald.
The Sunburn organizers claimed that besides the main event spanning three days it had rolled out a massive list of after-parties featuring several electronic music stars. The after-parties titled ‘Sunburn Goa 2021 After Dark’, are scheduled from 10 pm onwards.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had last month rejected permission to hold the festival owing to the pandemic.
With the festival still on, albeit not in a public space, the locals are quite upset. Some of them took to the microblogging site to express their anger as one of them identified as Joel Andrade said, “Sunburn begins tomorrow (Monday), about a month after the chief minister said he has signed the file and refused permission for the festival. If this is not a clear case of corruption, I don’t know what is! Has the weight of moneybags made you go silent,” he continued saying, “@RohanKhaunte, can’t you ‘smell the rat’ in the Sunburn hush up like you did in other cases before joining @BJP4Goa? @babushofficial, why be silent? Cracked a deal already? Hundreds will go to Sunburn and make a mockery of Covid rules at a time cases are rising in Goa.”
Another Twitter user Shamila Siddiqui, while replying to Andrade’s post said, “He denies permission then gives permission which means more money.”
Congress leader Elvis Gomes also slammed the government for allowing the festival as he also took a dig stating “Same drama every year…@BJP4Goa Pl declare Sunburn Goa as state festival in your manifesto”
