Sunburn Festival gets bigger and better

As Bollywood stars show more and more interest in the music fest, the organisers have hiked its VIP rate manifold

Sunburn Festival gets bigger and better

As Bollywood stars show more and more interest in the music fest, the organisers have hiked its VIP rate manifold

Not surprisingly, the festival to be held between December 27 and 29 has become a favourite jaunt for Bollywood too.

Priyanka Chopra at Sunburn 2010

You can catch some of the biggest names from B-Town strolling on the Candolim beach this month including Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Rana Daggubatti, Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle (who will be there to celebrate her birthday), Arjun Rampal, Ameesha Pael, Prateik, Neha Dhupia and more.

Says a festival organiser, "This is the first time we have taken the festival to a much larger scale, also because it's Sunburn's fifth year. We have, therefore, included a special section called MIP (Most Important People), which will be totally secluded and exclusive to people who buy tables there."

Interestingly, per table can accommodate six people and costs Rs three lakh. So it wouldn't be much of a surprise if you see most of our Bollywood folk sunbathing here. Adds the organiser, "More and more people want to be a part of it. Also, even if one's not interested in the music, it's cool to be seen here."

However, for an event that started off as a space to promote alternative and edgy music, attracting and accommodating celebrities seem to have become more of a priority. The organiser adds, "90 percent of people come for the experience and the rest come for the music."

However, if you think the regular crowd may mind the large chunks of space being dedicated to an exclusive set of people, apparently that is no cause for concern.

"Last year we had just six and a half acres of land, but this year we have 15 to 18 acres of land dedicated to the festival. We have divided the space accordingly, so everyone would be comfortable."

Better safe than sorry
Apart from three layers of frisking, there are 4,000 guards, a crisis management team and a disaster management team deployed at the fest. Sunburn saw over 46,500 people last year, and is expecting at least 80,000-1 lakh people this year.

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