Earlier this year, the government announced that they will not allow two Electronic Dance Music fests in North Goa. Declaring that the organizers of the EDMs would not be given permission to hold their respective festivals in the last week of December as there is a heavy rush of both domestic and foreign tourists during that season.
So far only Percept Live the organizer of Sunburn has made an application to the tourism department seeking permission to conduct an EDM in December. The Sunburn website says the festival will be held from December 27 to 30, but no venue mentioned.
This is because the government has imposed many regulations, including restricting the liberty of EDM organizers to choose their venues. Instead, the organizers will have to choose a site from those short-listed by the government.
The state-level permission committee will meet next week to decide on the application submitted by Percept Live and will also decide on the arrears due from EDM organizers. No proposal has come from Viacom 18, the organizer of Supersonic. The fans of Supersonic were asked to wait till the Goa government reviews its options, after which dates and venues will be announced.
The police department and district administration are also against permitting the two festivals in North Goa during the Christmas – New Year time for security reasons.
Police department claimed that they have to deploy additional police for the two EDM’s, besides having to deploy forces for Christmas and New Year festivities. Fingers crossed, this winter season will be more organized and safer than the previous ones.
Image Credits: Newsx, Sunburn 2015
