The great thing about a festival like SulaFest, is that it holds a niche brand value that almost everyone can get on board with – wine in a splendorous vineyard + an eclectic mix of groovy music and lots of delicious food. Apart from being February’s token getaway festival, the event does put a quaint and sleepy town like Nasik on the map ofΒ unique and beautiful festival venues. 2016’s version was hardly different in terms of popularity and zest, as people flocked to Nasik to celebrate the glorious weekend in the company of great wine and music.
Here are all the facets of SulaFest 2016, that made the festival tick for its attendees.
1. Music most apt for an easy-breezy wine festival
Last year, we had Lucky Ali, Gentlemen’s Dub Club and Young The Giant to keep us swaying, with this year being no different with the likes of Kailasa, The Cat Empire, Balkan Beat Box, Reggae Rajahs. Madboy/Mink and Success to name a few. When it comes to music curation for the mainstage, the folks at Sula seem to be nailing the vibe they’re going for, making it a mix of great indi-pop and world music fusion!
The Atmasphere Stage was every techno, minimal and deep house fanatic’s dream with non-stop thumping from Sashanti to Luna City Express to Aqua Dominatrix. Also, major props to the new and spacious Atmasphere stage. With the kind of popularity dance music garners at music festivals today, it was an ingenious plan for the promoters to allocate a whole new area asΒ dancing space for festival attendees. Just goes to show, that the festival is steadily growing.
Also, shoutoutΒ to Australian troupe The Cat Empire and French electro-rock band Success, for wowing us with their groovy music and phenomenal stage presence. While we all have seen and heard Madboy/Mink perform dozens of times, what blew us away were their curated dances moves and hilarious-yet-controversial visuals. The whole Narendra Modi and Hitler comparisons has us in splits.
2. The curated food stalls were pretty fantastic
No one went hungry at SulaFest this year, what with the unending display of food, treats and desserts up for the taking. From lamb chops, finger food, desi bites, whopping burgers, dumplings, oriental cuisine, wraps, rolls, tuck shop food, SulaFest 2016 left you feeling spoilt for choice, and you know, FAT.
It didn’t just stop at the food, because apart from the delicious wines there was also so much dessert to try out! Especially Soleil by La Plage’s dessert cart and London dairy’s wine and ice-cream.
3. Kailash Kher’s hilarious catchphrases
Can we just spend a moment, pondering the life-gems and great advice Kailesh Kher gave during his set with Kailasa? The seemingly joyous man who was quite overwhelmed with the crowd’s reaction to his music, let out some really ‘poignant’ phrases, that we should all take seriously. From his “No selfie, only kulfi” stance to hilarious puns like, “My India is shining, my India is Sula wine-ing”, everything he said on stage seemed to drive the crowd into a tizzy! Hey SulaFest, Β maybe you guys should use that line as your tagline for the nextΒ edition!
4. The decor just keeps getting better
SulaFest has taken the already picturesque venue of the Sula Vineyards, and with each passing year has made the decor and decorations much more appealing to the eye. From the wine paintings, to umbrella ceilings and the pretty entrance to the campsite, the festival truly was quite pretty. The burst of colour, quite obviously contributed to the general revelry and relaxed attitude of festival attendees.
5. The campsite was gorgeous
Even though the SulaFest campsite hosted and curated by Letscampout, was a hop skip and jump away from the venue, it was also positioned in a cozy spot by a pond, surround by short hills and an expanse of green. The campsite itself was quite nicely done up, with super luxurious tents and the regular ones spaced out well for that much-needed privacy. Sunsets and sunrises at the campsite were a sight it behold!
6. An overview
While every festival has its ups and downs, to be fair SulaFest hit the nail on the head when it came to all its pros. However there were some concerns expressed by attendees and people alike, about the size of the venue. SulaFest is steadily growing in number, and from next time the promoters should probably open up parts of the venue, for more walking and lounging space. At one point, (especially on the second day prior to Kailasa’s set) we felt the venue to be a bit cramped for the amount of people present. Good thing there is ample space in and around the venue, so rectifying this may not turn out to be too problematic for the promoters.
All in all, The Sherp and his merry bunch drank oodles of wine, enjoyed great music and had many laughs that madeΒ for aΒ super time at SulaFest ’16.
