Born in Goa in 2007, Sunburn has grown into one of Asia’s biggest dance music festivals. Now sprouting events around the world – including a huge Dubai gig in 2013 – on Thursday August 20 the brand lands in Oman for the first time, hosting the spin-off Sunburn Reload at Muscat’s On the Rocks.
The event will be headlined by a name synonymous with the Sunburn brand, DJ Shaan, who has been playing the festival since he was 15, and is notably India’s first DJ to play Belgium’s influential EDM happening Tomorrowland.
Ahead of the date we grabbed five with Sunburn’s founding Harindra Singh.
What can we expect from the first Sunburn event in Oman?
One should definitely expect great music, great vibes, great production values and great effects. Sunburn is as we say for the fans, of the fans and by the fans. We stay in constant touch with our fans, and study their music preferences across the globe. This helps us in understanding them and ensuring that we deliver a “wow” experience.
Why did you decide to host an event in Muscat?
The Middle East is opening up and becoming receptive to lot of cultural inputs. We selected Oman as it is amongst the closest relevant international market to us in Mumbai. We have been receiving lot of fan messages on social media, as we have a huge fan following from the Middle East, and we thought it was time to bring the experience to them.
Looking back on the past eight years, which DJs are you most proud of having hosted?
We are proud of all the DJs that we have hosted across the eight seasons of Sunburn, each is accomplished in their own way with their own style of music. Having said that, Sunburn has hosted some of the top international artists including Swedish House Mafia, Tiësto, Afrojack, David Guetta, Axwell, Avicii, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Deadmau5 and Nicky Romero....
You brought Tiësto to Dubai’s World Trade Centre for Sunburn in 2013. Any chance of another UAE event soon?
Of course, hopefully soon. The Sunburn arena event with Tiësto received a tremendous response from the fans. We are constantly looking for opportunities in the UAE. It does make logical sense for us to add the UAE on a Thursday when we are planning Friday, Saturday, and Sunday tours in India. It’s all about getting an act that fans in UAE want at the right time, and we will be there making people happy.
What does Sunburn mean to you?
Sunburn is a way of life – a life that promotes equality, joy, good music, social gatherings and freedom. Therefore the youth as well as young at heart across globe are able to appreciate it. We believe Sunburn promotes mingling of societies, cutting across cultural boundaries.
For more information and tickets, from OMR30, head to www.sunburn.in.