​Hungama Crossblade Music Festival has left its imprint in the ever-growing music scene in India

​Hungama Crossblade Music Festival had all the ingredients of a fine Indian music festival. A Punjabi music festival which spanned across two days, 28 and 29 January 2017, it combined different genres of music. The festival presented more than 40 artists on two dedicated enormous stages.

The festival happened at Chimney Heights Resort in Chandigarh, Punjab. I was very excited considering this was my first ever in Punjab and my stay there was heightened by listening to loud, dramatic Punjabi music from afternoon till night. The festival had an incredible line up of artists which included enigmatic local artists like Jessie Gill, Babbal Rai, Zora Randhawa along with headlining acts from Nooran sisters, Diljit Dosanjh and Nucleya.

The air in Chandigarh buzzed with excitement and the bill-boards across the city screamed loud that Crossblade was happening soon. The organisers were crafty in their marketing tricks. They asked festival-goers to buy an entire barrel of alcohol to get a particular number of passes. And there was no dearth of takers for everyone was excited to have a good time.

The venue was in a big, spacious lot, away from city pollution which was a good call by the organisers. I was not as bright as the organisers and made the mistake of attending the festival in the chilly cold weather in my ripped denim shorts (slow clap). After nearly freezing to death and gaining judgmental looks from people, I learnt my lesson and got me a hoody. But in all fairness the ‘chill’ weather added to the charm of the fest.

Diljit Dosanjh’s signature songs on Day 1 and the electronic act by Nucleya on Day 2 accumulated the most crowd at the festival. For me the biggest take-away from the festival was the performance by Nooran sisters. Surreal and spiritual, they transported the crowd to a divine level. While everyone grooved to the music by the local artists and enjoyed their acts, the headlining acts by Nucleya and Diljith saw twice the crowd.

While all of these things went in favour of the festival, the audience number did not. The festival did not enjoy a healthy crowd which festivals like Sunburn or Super Sonic usually do. In the sprawling big lawn the audience seemed scattered. One of the reasons for this could be that Punjab is still getting used to the culture of attending concerts and festivals. But apart from the glaring disadvantage, the festival was well organised with ample security on both the days. If this is the first edition of Hungama Crossblade Music Festival, I cannot wait for the next edition.