TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: It is not known whether Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar can hold a tune or not. But he has surely managed to get the organizers of the hugely successful EDM festival Sunburn, follow his tune, of getting locals a taste of their biggest bash.
So here’s what he has pulled off, probably a first in any music festival in history. In its eighth edition this year, the festival will have one more day with locals getting a free entry, with a caveat that their passes have to be collected from their respective local MLAs. While it is no secret that Parulekar’s constituents will get the largest share, there’s something in it for all MLAs who want to please their EDM hungry supporters.
The fourth day – December 30 has been titled as ‘Sunburn Surprise.’
Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar who made this announcement at a press briefing on Tuesday said the decision of allowing the event for four days was in the wake of increasing curiosity among the people to attend the festival.
“We have been getting several requests from the people for complimentary passes. This is why the three-day festival will continue till the fourth day this year. Locals will enter free on the fourth day,” he said.
Interestingly, the local MLAs have been designated to distribute free tickets after the local produces his or her original voter card. “Just visit www.sunburn.in, follow the link to ‘Sunburn Surprise’ and put in your name, details, and a scan of your voter card. Once you have done the listing as above, you will receive a confirmation, take that and the original voter card to your local MLA and collect your free ticket,” a press communique issued by Sunburn organizers read.
Harindra Singh, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Percept Ltd, told Herald that 30,000 people out of a capacity of 70,000 will be let in on the last day, of which a substantial number will be locals who will come in with free passes from their MLAs.
But regular Sunburn fans will have access to the fourth day too. According to Sunburn all other three-day ticket holders will have free access to Sunburn Surprise and single day ticket holders will get 50 per cent discount on the fourth day’s ticket.
Meanwhile, after criticism over alleged use of narcotics at such events, Parulekar said if drugs are found in the festival, licences will be withdrawn immediately. “If we find anyone doing drugs we will cancel the licence of the event. They also will be blacklisted and won’t be allowed to hold their events in future. The organisers’ security deposit will be forfeited,” he said adding the organizers could even be booked under NDPS Act.
Parulekar further questioned why Calangute MLA Michael Lobo has failed to prove that there is a drug trade while demanding that the police force should be strengthened to control drugs.
On the security front, Goa police has sought from the organizers of Sunburn and another EDM Supersonic to deploy their private security during the festivals that will run from December 27 to December 30. Parulekar informed that the department has asked for four private security men behind every policeman.
