Days of Wine and Music
The second decade of SulaFest has arrived. Regulars at the festival know only too well, that the first weekend of February is Sulafest. The majestic vineyards where the annual festival is held saw over 10, 000 music worshippers making the pilgrimage on both days.
This year saw just two music stages, with the Atmasphere stage missing. The main Amphitheater stage known as the Amphi stage had a lovely grassy setting for seats. If you were early, you could catch the smaller acts, while you lazed around on the grass, sipping a beer or grabbing a snack before the crowds arrived.
The world music festival that has a lineup of some of the best multi genre artists from all over the world, offered a whole range of unseen and unheard of talent to discover. You had funk and mid tempo groove from indie band Run Pussy Run, to an electrifying performance by Gaurav Raina’s electronic outfit GRAIN which also featured artists Komorebi among others. Besides that, there was also Bollywood sensation Amit Trivedi who had the crowd on their feet, singing along to most of his hit songs. Indie act Adil Manuel Collective brought in their style of blues, soul, jazz and R & B. Brodha V, an Indian hip-hop artist, lyricist, and music producer from Bangalore, gave us a tight rap set.
Among the foreign acts there was the immensely talented London based Gypsy Hill with Gypsy, Balkan beats and swing, complete with brass instruments, guitars, horns, tuba, a scratch DJ and a mix of live and electronic beats. Electronic-folk band headed by Parov Stelar brought to the fest electro swing, while Crystal Fighters, an English-Spanish electronic/folk band from the UK, brought in progressive dance beats of electro, punk, techno, dub step. There was also The Beat, featuring Ranking Roger. The fest ended with Austrian beat boxing band Bauchklang who left the audience spellbound.
The Atma stage on the other hand had a sprinkling of International deejays spinning techno, house and EDM bringing the electric vibes to the festival. The beautiful visuals on the screen and the female dancers were a delight to watch. Artist like Stefano Richetta, Bondi Live and Alex Ferrer, Sanjay Dutta, among many others, gave a rivetting performance.
The flea market had everything from imitation jewellery, artwork, decorative lampshades, posters, wood décor, designs tattoos to spas and novelty items.
Food lovers were spoiled for choice. At both stages you could take your pick from tacos to continental meals, pizzas to fries, burgers to ice creams and to top it all you could sample fuity chocolates from Brookside by Hershey’s You had the Sula wines to keep you in good spirits and if that was not enough, you could also chose a cocktall from Beluga, Cointreau, Japaese beers from Asahi or Budweiser, Pitu Cachaca which all added to global soul of the fest. Though the price of a glass of wine a the bar counters were astronomical, many opted for the bottle that could be shared by a group of friends at the beautiful rooftop restaurant in the vineyard.
No wine festival is complete without the adventure of grape stomping sessions, wine tours and wine tasting. For a small price, this was a great way to see how wine is actually made.
One couldn’t help but notice the very simple and charismatic Rajeev Samant, CEO & Founder of Sula Vineyards moving around the venue with his pet dog and obliging festival goers a selfie moment. When questioned on how this edition of the festival has turned out to be, he quipped. “What an incredible weekend.” We agree with you Mr Samant.
– Text and Photos by Verus Ferreira