New Delhi: The popular Sunburn Music Festival has faced backlash and legal trouble multiple times in the past. But, this year’s festival was straight up cancelled. This year, the Sunburn Music Festival was set to take place on September 28 and 29, 2024 in Rishikesh. However, the festivities were shut down after protests from various right-wing organisations. Here is what went down.
As per a report by The Times Of IndiaBookMyShow cancelled the booked tickets and began issuing refunds soon after the unrest. The protestors argued that the event would ‘hurt religious sentiments and would lead to inappropriate behaviour’ in the spiritual town of Rishikesh.
Why was the Sunburn Rishikesh Festival cancelled?
It is to be noted that close to 1,000 tickets, priced at Rs 1,200 each, were already sold. Although all the permissions, with a few restrictions, were set in place, the permissions were revoked on September 22. The restrictions set in place were no drugs consumed on-site and a ban on music after 10 PM. However, according to reports, the permissions were revoked altogether as authorities were concerned about the growing outcries from right-wing groups. In addition to this, the police were also worried about the possible disturbances the event would cause to the residents of the area.
The president of Nagrik Parishad, Chandrabhushan, claimed that the event would corrupt the environment of the town and would be a ‘blatant disrespect to religious sentiments’.
It is not just major groups protesting, even netizens were against the event.
Where are we heading??
I’m not against Sunburn but something’s not right here.The town signifies calmness, purity and innocence. So much sacrifice for tourism!!!@Anoopnautiyal1@Wangchuk66
— Bhai SHAHAB (@Sid_blue) September 25, 2024
Sunburn Festival’s previous backlash
Previously, Sunburn has been under fire for its association with drugs and safety concerns. In 2014, the Sunburn Goa Festival was almost cancelled due to the aforementioned reasons. In 2017, the Pune event faced backlash as right-wing groups raised concerns about drug use and obscenity. The biggest one of them all, in 2019, the Goa government withdrew all its support for the festival due to environmental concerns and the constantly growing criticism over the festival.
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