If you are an electronic dance music (EDM) fan and you are fed up with the after-Christmas cold turkey and fried up leftovers at home, why not give yourself a treat and head out to Goa for the three day Sunburn Festival – 27th to 29th December. Although this festival is only into its seventh year, it has already been listed as the ninth best music festival in the world (in 2009).
There are always multiple stages to enjoy and they cover all aspects of EDM – psy-trance, bass, electro house, progressive trance and everything in between so it doesn’t matter where your fancy lies, there will definitely be something for you here. For a taste of the festival you can visit the Sunburn Festival Spotify playlist where you can listen to over 25 tracks online.
The Sunburn Festival was started by Indian DJ Nikhil Chinapa and was designed to celebrate EDM but also makes sure the three days offer an all-round festival experience, with the usual fireworks, fantastic food, flea market and – this is definitely not found at every festival – rock climbing walls!
It’s not called the Sunburn Festival for nothing – the sun is fierce in December in India and so there are a lot of shady places provided, from themed lounges to massage centres.
How to get there
Candolim Beach where the festival is centred is easy to reach by train or bus from most of the major centres in India. There are direct flights to Goa from London and Manchester, but it is often easier to go to one of the larger centres such as Mumbai and take a train. It is worth having a look online on sites for deals. It also gives a good opportunity to see some more of India on your holiday – although it is rather cool to go all that way for a three day music festival, most people prefer to make it part of a longer holiday.
Candolim Beach is a lovely spot and there are plenty of places to stay both there and along the coast a way. Goa is a destination which most people fall in love with, and once they have been make it one of their favourite places to revisit. Although the flights are quite long and may be pricey, once there the living is inexpensive and although you can splash out on a top hotel there are lots of rooms and other accommodation which are cheaper options. The trick is to shop around.
Top Winter Festival
In the UK and Europe the festival season is limited to May to September in the main and so for anyone who is keen on the festival experience and is getting a bit twitchy through the long winter months, the Sunburn Festival is a great way of getting some sunshine and music to fill in the gap. Many people fight a bit shy of a music festival in India, fearing that they won’t enjoy the genre, but this is totally dedicated to EDM which has a following that is absolutely worldwide. So take your woollies off, put your shorts on and book that flight to Goa now!
