After its last edition in 2013, Mumbai’s Independence Rock, the music festival that launched bands like Parikrama, Zero, Bhayanak Maut, Pentagram, Indus Creed and more, is back after a gap of almost a decade with new branding and sponsorship.
The Mahindra Group, responsible for the Mumbai’s favourite blues festival, has now partnered with Farhad Wadia‘s Independence Rock. As a title partner, the company’s association with the festival has resulted in a rechristening of the festival to become ‘Mahindra Independence Rock’. Scheduled to take place in Mumbai on November 5th and 6th, the 28 edition of the rock fest will soon announce its line-up. However, in an interview with Rolling Stone, founder of the festival, Farhad Wadia said, “I can only tell you that one of the bands that played at the first Independence Rock in 1986 and then, for over 20 [editions] will definitely be performing.”
Commenting on this association, Dr. Anish Shah, Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra Group said, “We are very excited to partake in the reinvigoration of a movement that was glorious, emotional and inspiring. The Mahindra Group is happy to bring back an event of historic substance – one that millions of people willingly embraced and strongly resonated with.”
He added that Mahindra has been in existence for over 75 years and so has Independent India. “Our history of growth and expansion parallels that of Independent India and what better way to celebrate this than to revive the oldest most iconic music festival of independent music that is all about freedom and equality,” he said.
Mahindra Independence Rock now becomes an important part of the company’s wide ranging Cultural Outreach Programs, such as the Mahindra Blues Festival, Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival and the Mahindra Kabira Festival. Mahindra Independence Rock will be the first festival of their Cultural Outreach Calendar of 2022-23.
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