The festival giant, Sunburn, will be celebrating its 15th edition at this year’s showcase. Headlining Sunburn Festival Goa 2021 will be Dutch DJ and Record Producer Armin van Buuren, who will also be promoting his eighth studio album ‘A State of Trance Forever’. This live performance will also mark the first major headlining act to tour India post the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Percept Live, the founding organization behind Asia’s biggest electronic dance music festival, Sunburn have announced revised dates and venue for the 15th edition of their much-awaited annual festival. Aptly themed #LifeIsCalling, heralding the revival of good times in a post pandemic world, Sunburn Festival Goa 2021 will now present a spectacular three-day showcase on the 27, 28 and 29 December 2021 at Hilltop, Small Vagator, Goa.
Armin van Buuren, a globally renowned artist par excellence, driven by an unbridled and relentless passion for music, has brought Trance and Progressive House into the mainstream and is one of the most recognizable names and faces in the genre. The 37 year old has been crowned the World’s #1 DJ five times, and is currently ranked #3 by genre bible DJ Magazine. As the flag-bearer of the trance movement, for more than twenty years, the Grammy-nominated Dutchman has been living to the rhythm of his own international success and global fan adulation.
Electronic music phenomenon and World #3 Armin van Buuren states, “I am delighted to be finally returning to India after a long gap, with one of my favourite festivals Sunburn. We have all been through a very difficult period but it’s now time for us to come together and celebrate life once again. I cannot wait to close Sunburn Goa on 29 December – see you all there.”
Featuring over 40 international and local artists across three stages, the festival will also entail an exclusive limited guest list at After-parties at select venues across Goa. The promoters will be partnering with several popular clubs across India for “Sunburn Echo”, the live stream that will recreate the on-ground festival experience across the country. “Sunburn Home” will also give fans the opportunity to watch the live stream of the on-ground festival from the comfort and safety of their homes on Facebook and Instagram. The festival was conducted digitally last year with no fan presence on-ground due to the pandemic and returns with a spectacular live event to entertain eager fans after a hiatus of 2 years.
Karan Singh, COO, Percept Live says, “We are delighted to be able to finally host Sunburn on-ground with our fans after a gap of 2 long years. And we are even more thrilled to welcome back one of India’s and Sunburn’s favourite artist Armin van Buuren. The fact that he has chosen to join us for Sunburn’s comeback is a massive cause for celebration. We have a spectacular extravaganza of music, adventure and entertainment lined up for our fans. It’s finally time to ‘Live, Love and Dance Again’ and we cannot wait to welcome Sunburn fans back to Goa.”
‘Your Safety, Our Priority’ will be the guiding principle for this year’s extravaganza as music, recreation and adventure will be intertwined with safety as fans from various countries and pan India will come together in Goa. The festival will adhere to all the health and safety measures and all applicable COVID-19 government guidelines to ensure fan safety is of utmost priority. Only attendees who have been Double vaccinated will be permitted to attend the festival. Sunburn Festival Goa 2021 will also be a limited capacity event, and new Entry and Exit protocols have been designed at par with international tried-and-tested event formats to ensure maximum safety and secure passage of attendees in and around the venue.
Percept Live has incorporated the Best Practises being followed safely and successfully for live events across USA and Europe and replicated the same blueprint for Sunburn Festival Goa 2021 to ensure absolute safety of fans. The festival ticket purchase e-Gateway has a rigorous COVID-19 security protocol in place with attendees to compulsorily submit their postal address, e-mail ID and contact number to receive a booking confirmation and unique booking ID. Entry wristbands and a festival information guide will be sent along with a COVID safety kit to the attendee’s postal address provided online. All patrons must be double vaccinated to enter the festival, and their vaccination certificates will need to be uploaded prior and will also be scanned at the festival gates along with their original government ID proof.
On ground throughout the 3 days of the Festival Entry gates will have ample entry lanes and enable the mandated protocols of social distancing. Additionally, various time slots to enter the festival premise will be allocated to attendees in prior to avoid overcrowding. VVIP tables placed at key points across the venue will ensure prompt service to guests, thereby restricting attendees’ need to walk around the festival premise for F&B and other necessities. Fans will be advised to wear face masks and provisions will be made for regular thermal scanning, hand wash and sanitizers across the festival premise. The organizers have declared a Zero-Tolerance Policy towards any attendee who violates these protocols.
As Sunburn maintains a Zero-Tolerance policy against drugs and substance abuse, any violation will be dealt with strictly according to the law. Sunburn will be working closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure a 100% drug free festival.
In 2020, Percept Live in consultation with the Goa Government authorities opted against organizing an on-ground festival. But due to overwhelming appeals from the fans, a digital edition titled ‘Sunburn NYE 2020’ conducted on 30th and 31st of December 2020 was streamed live on the Sunburn Facebook page to a massive captive global audience. Given the close ties Sunburn and Goa have shared over the past 15 years, the festival had also united with world’s #1 DJ duo Dimitri Vegas Like Mike and Facebook to organize a virtual music fest titled ‘Sunburn For Goa’ on 29th August 2020 to raise funds for the COVID-19 relief activity for the State of Goa. The event raised over Rs. 50 lakhs which was handed over to Chief Minister’s COVID Relief Fund-Goa which was promptly utilized for efforts towards COVID-19 relief and welfare across the State of Goa.
