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Sunburn, NH7 or Supersonic: Which music festival has maximum pull?

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At any given music festival in the country, we see crowds of people waiting at the entrance, huddling around the stalls, and jamming to their favorite artists. The frequency of these music festivals have gone up to the extent that for every dog day weekend especially in the present season, there’s an outdoor music festival to match every genre, and of varied shapes and sizes.



The budgets surrounding music festival culture has transformed the live music industry into a quantifiable force of its own. These festivals have provided an excellent platform to both national and international artists. Several music genres and artists have been brought to the home ground through these festivals happening around the country every year.



But what’s next? The big question arises in how one differentiates from the other. What does A bring to the table that B doesn’t!Narrowing down to our very popular music festivals- Hero Sunburn, Bacardi NH7 Weekender and VH1 Supersonic, lets delve into the elements each offer to its audience.



Sunburn is India’s premier electronic dance music brand hosting Asia’s largest 3-day Electronic Music Festival in Goaand now tours through various cities. Not only this, Sunburn took it forward and introduced ‘Sunburn Arena’ in 2011 bringing some of the world’s best DJs to India like Avicii, Dash Berlin, Armin Van Buuren, Swedish House Mafia and many more in an invigorating arena format across all major cities.



Inaugurated in 2007, Sunburn is a synergy of music, entertainment, shopping and food that attracts music tourism in India and now spreading its wings across the globe to Sri Lanka in 2012 & Dubai in 2013.



This IP is executed by Shailendra Singh of Percept and has been growing wider and larger with every passing year. Mr. Singh believes that “in the past four years of its existence, Sunburn has brought together renowned Indian and International DJs to entertain crowds of lakhs all around the year! It has put India on the map as a Dance Festival destination for music lovers around the world.”



Sunburn has seen immense growth both in terms of brands and footfall every year. The 2013 chapter witnessed over 1 lakh attendees at the festival. Many IITS and AIMS witnessed several Indian and international artists and BITS Pilani, Goa was the first college to host sunburn on campus. This strategy by Sunburn helps grow the craze of EDM in teenagers and it also shows a new modern trend evolving in colleges throughout India. The response for the festival has been sky rocketing since its inception in 2007. Sunburn started with a humble hosting of 10,000 people and has now expanded to over 150,000 footfalls.  Sunburn has taken the reigns and partnered with like-minded brands such as Hero Motocorp, Woodland and Tuborg that speak the same language, to the aspirational youth pan India and abroad. Also these brands and more such as Micromax, Kingfisher, Quikr and Jabong also featured their presence in Sunburn 2014.



Despite NikhalChinappaleaving Sunburn and joining hands with Vh1 Supersonic last year, the event hasn’t seen a very drastic change. All set to roll on the 27th December this year, Sunburn is expected to attract massive footfall.



Another music festival in the league that has rapidly ascended to become one of the biggest music festivals in the circuit, with events being held in four cities – Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata is Bacardi NH7 Weekender. Martin Elbourne, Vijay Nair and Stephen Budd put on the inaugural edition of the festival at Koregaon Park, Pune a few years back. Over the last four years, the Bacardi NH7 Weekender has grown to be one of the country’s most beloved musical weekends – representing Bacardi India and Only Much Louder’s commitment to giving fans unforgettable musical experiences – a reflection of the untamable spirit of the festival.



Throughout its history, right from the iconic Bacardi jingle to path breaking live events such as Bacardi Blast, this festival engages audience and music lovers through unique experiences, and unforgettable properties. This year marks 152 years of the uncompromising passion and irrepressible spirit of Bacardi with the bold new identity ‘Bacardi Untameablesince 1862’.



Several fashion brands are using music and entertainment to establish a strong relationship with consumers. Just like Jabong even Koovs has tied up with Bacardi NH7 Weekender as official style partners.



Not aiming to exceed their footfall to lakhs, NH7 Weekender has its very different policy. 2013 chapter of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender had just 9,000 tickets on sale. By limiting the size of the festival, they intended to bring both fans and theamazing music community closer together, in order to maximize the Bacardi NH7 Weekender experience.



Live events are clearly catching the imagination of advertisers across sectors - auto, FMCG and telecom. Talking about NH7 Weekender, Bacardi continues to be its title sponsor, and its associate sponsors are energy drink brand Red Bull and telecom service provider MTS.



Moving onto VH1 Supersonic, it may be the new kid on the block but the kid has big plans. It aims to restore the spirit of community and passion for music. It will target devoted music lovers by featuring a mix of Indian and international artists – thanks to the expertise Chinapa brings to the table. In its short lifespan Supersonic has been positively making to the league of Weekender and other celebrated musical events. With the idea to promote both established and new talent, Supersonic provides a platform to both international and home grown talent.



The five day festival offers music lovers an unparalleled, immersive experience coupled with great music across popular underground electronic music genres. Having not seen many years as compared to Sunburn or NH7 Weekender, still Supersonic has managed to gather the attraction of many and is considered one of the most popular music IP in our country.



Now having tied up Nikhil Chinapa they believe he not only developed the Electronic Dance Music scene in India, but has also become synonymous with it.  Given his immense knowledge of EDM and deep understanding of the consumers’ needs, Nikhil was the ideal choice for being the festival director.



By integrating various elements of excitement, each music festival tries its best to stand out in the competition. With all three music festivals having announced their lineup of artists, both national and international, it will be interesting to see the amount of footfall each attracts. Which one will you go to this year?


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