Gearing up for the Electric Peacock Festival
Electric Peacock Festival makes a return after a two year hiatus on December 4 at the CR&FC Grounds. With a line-up that includes Mark Ronson, DJ Yoda and Muku, this year’s revelries should satisfy the cravings of any festival head, and the promise of a transformed venue-“you won’t recognize it,” says co-founder Leah Bazalgette-should prove enough of a draw even if you’re not a regular reveller.
The festival is not just about music-Electric Peacock Festival is also a performing arts showcase, dubbed ‘Sri Lanka’s largest multi genre music festival’.
Every edition, the organizers partner with the Academy of Design for an arts programme that falls in line with that year’s theme.
This time around the theme is ‘Neon Zoo’, so you can expect a zoo that’ll challenge preconceptions of a traditional take on a zoo-dress up, advise the organizers.
The festival was launched in 2010 by sisters Leah Bazalgette and Tasha Marikkar. Leah, an avid festival goer, was at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival watching her favourite band-Blur-perform. “The energy was amazing,” she remembers. “I turned to my sister and shouted ‘we should do this in Sri Lanka!’ She said yes, and we started in 2010.”
Mark Ronson
Leah has worked with the Glastonbury Festival before and knows what it takes for a festival that can make an impact.
Together the sisters have worked on the MTV EMA’s, for music promoters such as Harvey Goldsmith and at festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude and Reading, producing installations and backstage VIP parties.
“I just really love the idea of people coming together and abandoning all their worries and responsibilities in one place,” Leah says. “We were the first to do something on this scale in Sri Lanka.
There have been several after us but most are just one-off, whereas we’ve really focussed on building a network and making Sri Lanka a viable destination for festival goers.”
For the latter they’ve partnered with hospitality companies to create bespoke festival packages to drive tourists from the region, and expect to draw in a significant number of visitors from India, Singapore and Dubai in particular.
The festival (which returns for its fourth edition) has featured headliners such as Roger Sanchez, Basement Jaxx and Tinie Tempah alongside acts like the New Young Pony Club, Duke Spirit, Trophy Wife, Chicane, BBC Radio 1 DJ Nihal, Muku, Asvajit and Julius Mitchell among others.
This year’s headliner is Mark Ronson, a man that needs little introduction following his global hit ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars. Ronson is a DJ and music producer of formidable repute.
He is known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection influenced by funk, rock and hip hop and has produced multiple tracks on the albums of singers such as Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Robbie Williams.
The most notable among these is his work with Amy Winehouse on her Back to Black album, for which he shared Grammys with Winehouse for ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ and ‘Record of the Year’ in 2008. He also received the Grammy for ‘Producer of the Year-non classical’ in the same year.
Other acts include hip hop turntablist DJ Yoda, and local DJ Muku. Expect the return of the ‘Silent Disco’ tent, free costume boxes and the infamous Love Guru, ready to dispense his wisdom to the festival goers. Bouncy castles, live art experiences and other sub-culture pop up areas will also be on offer.
Electric Peacock Festival kicks off on Friday, 4 December at the CR&FC Grounds. Buy your tickets on shopbox.lk (VIP Rs. 5000/Standard entry Rs. 3500)