The Goa government has said that the Sunburn and the Supersonic Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals, which the state hosts at Vagator and Candolim, respectively, won’t be held in the peak season of December 15-January 15 from the next year.
The state Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who on Saturday cleared the files, granting conditional permission to the organizers of both the festivals to hold the four-day-long events from Sunday, categorically stated that the government would not tolerate a clash in the event dates from the next year.
“I called both the organizers (Sunburn’s Percept Ltd and Supersonic’s Viacom 18) and told them that this would not be tolerated.
“The dates of both the events should not clash and they should be conducted before December 15 or after January 15 from the next year,” Parsekar said.
The government is concerned about heavy traffic and security issues in the state during the peak season, when tourist footfalls rise significantly, he said.
Moreover, the government, aiming to attract high-end tourists to Goa, is apprehensive that holding such events during the December 15-January 15 period might turn this category of visitors away owing to the traffic congestion, he said.
In a recent meeting, the State Level Permission Committee (SLPC), constituted by the Chief Minister, had recommended to the state to decide EDM dates and venues from 2016 onwards on its own, as the decision-making that hitherto lay with the organizers has often put the state in a tight spot, an SLPC official said.
The local police, too, has raised concerns over maintaining law and order with additional security arrangements at both venues to be managed simultaneously, the official said.
The SLPC on December 24 inspected the venues to check for fire, security, health and other related arrangements, he said.
After the clash over the venue at Candolim, the two organizers continue to remain adamant over holding their respective music fests from December 27-30, with neither willing to adjust, despite repeated requests from the state government, he said.
(With PTI inputs)