TURA, Dec 1: Living up to its billing of being one of the biggest musical festivals in the Northeast, the concluding day of the Me’Gong Festival saw a footfall of close to a lakh with the highlight being a performance for the ages by Swedish rock band Europe.
The event, which began on November 29, with the all-women band, Haystack Ladies, concluded with Europe belting out their yesteryear hits such as Carrie and The Final Countdown to a crowd that lapped up each and every act that came on stage.
It was music throughout the day with local bands like Sans the Clothes, Wangkimit, Strange Origins, and Ahaia keeping adrenaline on the rush during the morning and afternoon. The evenings continued the momentum with bands like Restless Desire, Shanka Tribe, Indus Creed, and Europe continuing to build on the morning’s acts.
Day 1 of the fest saw the likes of Emptiness fame Gajendra Verma and Euphoria keeping the audience on their feet through their original numbers as well as national and international hits.
Unlike last year, when people returning from the festival had tales of torture to report with many taking 7 hours to traverse distances of just a few kilometres, this year was smooth sailing with no traffic issues reported despite the footfall.
However in the two days of the festival, seven accident cases were reported mostly due to rash and negligent driving following the festival’s conclusion. While there were three accidents after Day 1 that left three people with fractures, another four cases were reported on Sunday morning in various parts of the district of West Garo Hills from revellers finding their way back home.
For the first time in its short history, the festival also saw the presence of three ambassadors from different countries, which reaffirmed the growing popularity of the musical outreach that the event has tried to build on. The ambassadors of Uzbekistan Sardor Mirzayusupovich Rustambaev, Ambassador of El Salvador Guillermo Rubio Funes, Ambassador of Jamaica Jason KM Hall were present to witness music in the background of the Nokrek Hills on the Baljek airport premises.
On the sidelines, business was brisk in all the shops that were set up for the two-day mega event.
