Every year, the last week of December is dedicated to one thing that brings the youth to rejoice with music, madness and mayhem, no, not Christmas; and not even the New Year’s Eve. It is the Sunburn Goa, which comes between these two celebrations.

So, what makes this event so special? And who is the man behind the popular Sunburn event. This book describes the story in detail – the spark that turned this small experimental gig into the most iconic Intellectual Property, which is truly ‘glocal’ in eight short years.

Sunburn is the ninth largest festival in the world, the largest festival in Asia and the third ‘most connected’, ‘electronic dance & music’ (EDM) festival in the world. But Sunburn is more than just a music festival. It is more than a brand. From just one festival in Goa, in a year, Sunburn now does above 300 events in a year. It has held 2,687 and more events in eight years across all four formats – festival, arena, reload and campus. Sunburn events have been conducted in more than 75 cities and 40 colleges till date. It reaches more than 300 million people annually on Facebook. It is a much-needed entertainment option for the youth of India; fans eat, sleep and breathe Sunburn. Sunburn is a lifestyle.

The True Story of Sunburn: of the fans, for the fans, by a fan by Shailendra Singh is a tribute to the event that has changed the EDM scene in India and brought it to the global platform, to become the largest festival season on the planet. This book, which is here during the time of the introduction of the eighth season of the franchise, gives the story of inception and making of a property that is today the ‘Ultimate Dance Music Experience’.

The man behind the magic, Shailendra Singh, said the objective was “To throw a kick-ass EDM music festival that inspires the youth of India to celebrate. To allow people to be who they want to be, while uniting them through music”.

Singh is the person who has made all this possible – has conceptualized, captained and bore witness to the entire process. The inceptor of Sunburn and joint MD, Percept, Singh was honored in 2013 by the international industry by listing him in the 50 Most Powerful People in EDM (in the mix).

He has dabbled in multiple forays such as marketing, advertising, movie production and writing. His undying spirit, inexhaustible ideas, ‘never give up’ attitude and eye for detail are the qualities that helped transform ideas to results. His energy is rooted towards conceptualizing, planning and strategizing ways and means to create innovative content that works. His expertise and contribution over the past two decades to the arena of advertising, sports, talent, movies and 360-degree communications are unparalleled.

With intricate details given across all seven concluded seasons of the festival, there are real life accounts of experiences and struggles that were undertaken to make it all happen. This is a story of finding what the young India wants and giving them a diversion, a reason to reunite and come together in a place to unwind and give in to all their reservations, to be who they want to be. It is the story of an intellectual property that India is proud of, that is completely homegrown, and yet rivaling the standards of international music festivals. It is the success story of India, its dreams and the realization of those dreams.

This book is a first person narrative of the journey of Sunburn straight from the ‘horse’s mouth’ with all the revelations, confessions and true stories both behind the scenes and the success at the fore. Replete with vivid photographs and graphic imagery of all the attendees and performances, this book is a treat to read. Singh has used his exceptional storytelling skills to make this book entertaining and for the first time, brought this home grown electronic music festival to record books.

This is India’s first ever ‘Live book’, where one can while reading, with one touch watch the wonder of the festival come alive.

The True Story of Sunburn (of the fans, for the fans, by a fan)

By Shailendra Singh

Publisher: Embassy Books

Pages: 314

- Reviewed by Akshaya Mathrubootham

(Courtesy: Business India)