Coming To You This February: The Clash of Music Festivals

We talk to organizers of SulaFest, Control ALT Delete, Mahindra Blues Festival and Vh1 Supersonic to understand why the events are in such close proximity with each other

- David Britto

In our January 2018 cover story, we traced India’s music festival boom and how the country went from tiny club gigs to multi-day events. While the more the merrier is a great feat for the music scene, we’ve also noticed that over the last couple of years music festivals taking place especially in February are either clashing with each other on the same dates or are only a week apart.

For instance, this year Nashik’s SulaFest and Mumbai’s crowdfunded festival Control ALT Delete (CAD) both take place on February 1st and 2nd while Vh1 Supersonic in Pune and Mahindra Blues Festival (also in Mumbai) are scheduled for the following weekend.

Although this will be the 10th edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival which has usually taken place in February, we ask festival organizer, co-founder of Oranjuice Entertainment and Fountainhead, V.G. Jairam why the first two weekends of February are so coveted for music festivals. He says, “January is a month that everyone is coming back from the New Year and we basically wanted to start the year in Feb with the first music festival. January is more of an easing down period and then the action starts in Feb. Also, the weather is much better.” Control ALT Delete’s Nikhil Udupa also agrees with Jairam’s points about the New Year hangover and “decent weather.”

Vh1 Supersonic festival curator Nikhil Chinapa says, “Music festivals in February keep the celebratory spirit alive.” Gregoire Verdin, Brand Ambassador and Head of Tastings, Sula Vineyards, says, “The month of December and January are dedicated to family time or spirited vacations with friends. February with its moderate sun and cool evenings is the perfect month to host outdoor music festivals.”