Sunburn 2025: David Guetta, Nora Fatehi, Sara Landry Take Over Mumbai at Landmark Debut Edition

Sunburn has always understood scale better than most festivals in this part of the world. For nearly two decades, it has positioned itself as Asia’s biggest electronic music festival; a brand that doesn’t just book DJs, but builds a universe around them. This year, that universe made a decisive shift, bringing its flagship experience to Mumbai for the first time. On paper, the move felt inevitable. Mumbai is now firmly on the global touring map, a city that consumes live music voraciously and expects international spectacles as a given, not a luxury. In practice, Sunburn Mumbai’s debut was a reminder that scale alone doesn’t guarantee transcendence.

Set against the industrial sprawl of Infinity Bay, Sewri, the festival opened with ambition. Day one unfolded like a carefully paced overture: a crowd that mixed Sunburn loyalists with first-time festival-goers, stages warming up through the afternoon, and a line-up that leaned confidently into techno and underground-adjacent sounds. Sets by Nirvaan, Ana Lilia, Mathame, Richie Hawtin and Houdini carried the day forward, creating a steady build rather than a rush to spectacle. Between performances, Sunburn’s familiar ecosystem was on display — arcade zones, flea markets, curated food districts, chill-out spaces — all signalling a festival that wants to be lived in, not just attended.

The visual centrepiece, Beyond Infinity, was impossible to ignore. A towering monolith wrapped in nearly 15,000 square feet of LED, Sunburn asserted that Indian festivals can now match global production benchmarks. When Sara Landry took over for her first-ever India performance, that ambition found its sharpest expression. Her set was unrelenting — dark, industrial, and unapologetically hard — pulling the crowd into a hypnotic techno tunnel that refused to soften. Tracks like Girlboss, Pressure, Play With Me and Legacy drove the crowds wild along with the visuals and lighting locked so tightly to her tempo that the outside world briefly dissolved. It was a genuine high point, and one that cemented the fact the Sunburn continues to be the festival bringing global talent to Indian stages.

Sara Landry at Sunburn

Day two leaned into mass appeal. With performances spanning melodic house, big-room anthems and psy-trance, the festival grounds stayed in near-constant motion. Artists like Layla Benitez, DubVision b2b Third Party, Vini Vici, and Indian mainstays such as Kunal Merchant and Kahani ensured that the energy never dipped. As night fell, the Beyond Infinity stage came alive again with the world's pre-eminent DJ.

David Guetta’s return to India after eight years was treated as the moment it was meant to be: monumental. His Monolith Experience unfolded like a greatest-hits reel engineered for triggering nostalgia — Titanium, Play Hard, Without You, Together — punctuated by contemporary reworks. A highlight of the set was the surprise appearance of Nora Fatehi, teasing a collaboration with David Guetta and Ciara. This further cemented EDM’s belief in India’s reach. Although the set marked a monumental moment in India’s EDM scene, many expressed disappointment in David Guetta’s set. The performance fell short of expectations, which have been raised by the numerous artists that have performed in India already this year and surprised the audience with their hypnotic energy.

For all its polish on stage, Sunburn Mumbai struggled to deliver a fully convincing environment off it. Infinity Bay’s dusty terrain became a recurring point of discomfort across the weekend. By nightfall, the air itself felt abrasive, with many attendees complaining of sore throats, coughing fits, and general fatigue that had less to do with dancing and more to do with the conditions. For a festival that positions itself as premium, these fundamentals matter. Add to that the logistical friction — access, movement, and the sense of being perpetually aware of the terrain while trying to enjoy a festival for what it is.

David Guetta headlines Day 2 at Sunburn festival

Sunburn is not new to scrutiny, and its Mumbai debut arrived amid public protests and debates about large-scale festivals in the city. When you claim cultural leadership, the margin for missteps narrows. To its credit, the festival delivered on music, production, and star power. It reaffirmed India’s place on the global electronic touring circuit and proved, once again, that audiences here will show up in force.

But Sunburn Mumbai also revealed the next challenge for live music in the city. The hunger is unquestionable. The artists are ready. The crowds are willing. What remains unresolved is infrastructure — how to create festival sites that feel breathable, humane, and designed for bodies, not just numbers.