Navi Mumbai gets its first rock festival

Bands from across the country to perform at the three-day Salt Water Creek Festival this weekend.

Vashi resident and musician Jeff Dani had always regretted the fact that he and his gig-loving pals had to trudge all the way to the western suburbs or to Pune to catch a rock show. That’s what prompted him to come up with a festival in Navi Mumbai.

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And while the area has seen many sporadic concerts in the past, this is the first time that a large-scale festival is being hosted here. The Salt Water Creek Festival is a three-day event that starts tomorrow. It will feature local acts such as Blakc, Demonic Resurrection and Zygnema, as well as Kochi-based veteran act Motherjane and Chennai-based band Junkyard Groove.

To be held in an open-air venue at The Park Hotel in Belapur, the festival will feature three separate stages.

“It took us six months to put everything together. It was quite a struggle. Our only sponsor backed out at the last minute,” says 19-year-old Dani, who even sold his car to fund the venture.

He, along with two of his musician friends, Manu Idicula and Jimmy Alexander, also founded an event management company Mountain Leaf recently, which is organising the festival.

Blakc guitarist Anish Menon says, “A lot of musicians are based in this part of the city. It’s great to have a full-fledged festival here. We are looking forward to a great show.”