It’s been a year, but the North Goa coastal belt will likely host the December electronic dance music festival Sunburn in Vagator. According to Manohar Ajgaonkar, tourism manager for the country, said the government was currently working on getting approval for Sunburn Klassique, which would allow them to begin preparations.

Ajgaonkar said the state-level committee is going to decide if things can move forward, as the organizers have yet to pay their dues. Until those dues are paid for, they will not be allowed to continue with their planning.

Sunburn, under the Sunburn Klassique name, began its Goa journey back in February with a smaller scale festival after a three-year hiatus. The company, in collaboration with Percept Live (a subsidiary of Percept Ltd.) will co-promote all Goa Sunburn events.

Sunburn organizers recently announced the December Vagator festival would be held Dec. 27 to Dec. 29 with early bird tickets being offered. Ajgaonkar said he was unaware of any promotions being made about the festival, but permission was being granted to boost Goa tourism of which music is a part of.

According to sources, the tourism department had gotten an application from the EDM festival organizer for approval for the dates of Dec. 27, Dec. 28 and Dec. 29. Ajgaonkar said if the government decides to move forward with the promotion on both the national and international levels, EDMs were going to be needed.

For four years, the police department has asked the state government not to approve any EDM festivals during this week due to the increase in tourism numbers. However, the rising number of visitors puts some additional burden on improving security arrangements.

Percept Live, which has held Goa music festivals for 10 years, moved its 2016 event to Pune after a disagreement with the state government regarding outstanding dues. For three years, Viacom 18 had its own EDM festival but also pulled out. A new entity got involved in 2017 but refused to do so again in 2018.