Goa Congress opposes Sunburn fest amid COVID-19; state health minister says stringent safety protocol will be followed

PANAJI: The Congress on Friday protested against the hosting of the Sunburn EDM Festival in Goa amid the coronavirus pandemic.The state health minister, however, said people may attend it while following the necessary safety protocols.The Goa Tourism Department has given permission for the EDM festival, which will be held at Vagator in North Goa district over 27-28 December.Congress leaders staged a protest outside a hotel in the city, where the organisers of the festival were to address a press conference.Read on Firstpost: As Sunburn 2020 announcement faces flak, course for live music events in post-COVID era seems increasingly unclearState Congress spokesperson Sankalp Amonkar demanded that the festival be canceled as it could become an infection hotspot."People have stayed indoors and protected themselves from COVID-19 all this time. New cases continue to be reported during testing," he said."Don't expect people to participate in Sunburn with masks on or by maintaining social distancing. We all know what happens at these kinds of festivals," he said.Also read: Sunburn returns to Goa amid COVID-19 pandemic; announcement draws flak on social mediaBut health minister Vishwajit Rane, talking to reporters after chairing an expert committee's meeting on COVID-19, said people may attend such events "but go with face shields, masks and hand gloves"."I will definitely request the Chief Minister to impose stringent standard operating procedure for the festival and there should be a clause that if organisers allow the protocols to be violated, they should be penalised severely," the minister said.Harinder Singh, chairman and managing director of Percept Live, which organises the Sunburn Festival, said measures would be taken to prevent the spread of the virus.The number of participants will be restricted to 10,000 per day, he said.