The Sunburn Festival, one of Asia’s largest electronic dance music (EDM) festivals, will be held in Mumbai for the first time in December 2025, organisers announced on Tuesday. The festival, traditionally held in Goa, has faced mounting public opposition and administrative hurdles in recent years.
According to an official statement released on social media, the 2025 edition of the festival is scheduled to take place on December 19, 20 and 21, and promises a “larger in scale, elevated in experience” showcase “alive with infinite possibilities”. The theme for this year is “Beyond Reality”.
Sale of tickets will begin with a 48-hour pre-sale window for RuPay cardholders on August 12, followed by a public sale on August 14.
Launched in 2007, Sunburn was originally held in Vagator, North Goa, and later briefly shifted to Pune from 2016 to 2018 before returning to Goa. It attracted criticism from residents, local village panchayats, and civil society organisations over issues ranging from noise pollution and crowd mismanagement to environmental degradation and cultural insensitivity.
In 2023, the Goa government’s decision to consider hosting the festival in South Goa drew opposition from multiple gram sabhas, including Agonda, Chicalim, Vasco and Varca. Resolutions passed by the local bodies cited concerns about public safety, traffic congestion, and the impact on local livelihoods and ecology.
The festival has also drawn criticism over religious insensitivity. In December 2023, several political and religious groups, including the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, objected to the use of religious imagery — including depictions of Lord Shiva — in visual displays during performances.
