Soulmate deliver an electrifying performance. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Gangtok, Jan. 2: Sikkim?s very own Woodstock rocked to a tumultuous close on New Year?s eve.

The Mangan Music Festival, a three-day extravaganza featuring music and dance, was a huge success for the second year running. Large crowds thronged the festival to listen to the region?s finest bands compete for a Rs 50,000 cash prize for the winner.

And finally after hours of blues, rock and metal, Darjeeling band Yellow Hammer pummelled its way to the top, winning the first prize and the audience?s heart.

In fact, Darjeeling bands had a field day at the fest, with another band from the Queen of the Hills, Mary Jane, picking up the runners-up prize.

Sikkim acts also showed great potential, with hometown rockers Hurricane sharing third place with their Namchi counterparts, Mukti.

The music, however, did not stop with the contest. Shillong-based Soulmate, a band comprising some of the best- known musicians of the Northeast, later regaled the audience with a dose of blues, soul and rock, deftly mixing tradition with originality.

If music was the mainstay of the festival, dance was not far behind in adding a touch of glamour to the event.

Troupes from various parts of the hills took the stage to deliver carefully choreographed sets in an effort to clinch the crown at the Boogie-Woogie contest.

Kalimpong troupe Sumian Aerobics walked away with the top honours, and much to the thrill of the audience, local groups Spicy Girls and Faith Icons were placed second and third.

The music-hungry audience then danced its way into the New Year with a local DJ spinning out a non-stop diet of dance music in every style conceivable.

For the tiny town of Mangan, the success of the festival was a major milestone.