BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender Celebrates 14 Years of Musical Magic

 BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, one of India's premier music festivals, has consistently set the stage for inclusivity and accessibility, redefining the festival experience. The festival celebrates its 14th year, and the conversation delves into the impact of these initiatives on the festival scene in India and anticipates the evolving landscape, emphasizing the brand's commitment to innovation and consumer-centric experiences in the years ahead.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Ashish Jha, Brand Manager at BACARDÍ and BREEZER India, discusses their ongoing efforts for the music festival, highlighting initiatives such as wheelchair access, gender-neutral restrooms, and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity. Jha also shares BACARDÍ's overall expectations from the year 2024 and more.

How has the implementation of comprehensive accessibility features, such as wheelchair access and gender-neutral restrooms, contributed to ensuring comfort and ease for all attendees at the festival?

As one of India’s leading music festivals, BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender has actively prioritized raising the bar for inclusivity and accessibility every year—not only to constantly improve the experience of our attendees but also to set a benchmark for the industry to follow. We believe that accessibility for all is essential to preserving the sense of community and camaraderie that we have cultivated over the years at BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, and this has been appreciated by all our attendees over the years. By making it easier for differently-abled attendees to be a part of the festival and the broader Weekender community, we are elevating the experience for all our guests. After all, music is for everyone, and music festivals should be too.

In what ways is BACARDÍ taking the lead in making NH7 Weekender an inclusive and 100% accessible space, and what impact does this have on the overall festival experience?

Every year, we constantly raise the bar and undertake new initiatives to make BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender the Happiest Music Festival. We have always believed that to achieve this goal, it also has to be as accessible and inclusive an environment as possible for people of all identities. We were extremely proud to achieve our target of being a 100% accessible festival in the year 2022, and this is a commitment that we aim to maintain for all future editions. We have taken a number of steps under this initiative to improve the experience of guests, such as ensuring that the festival is fully accessible to differently-abled attendees and making the festival an LGBTQIA+ friendly space. This year, we are further expanding on this initiative by offering gender-neutral restrooms and security check lines, ensuring that all staff receive sensitization training to better assist attendees of different identities, and offering mental health assistance from trained experts on-ground at the festival.

Together, all these aspects contribute to making the festival feel like a welcoming space for all attendees and certainly elevate the festival experience. Fans can be assured of safety, comfort, and complete support as they enjoy their favorite artists at the BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender.

Looking ahead, how do you anticipate the Indian festival scene evolving in the coming decade, considering the current emphasis on inclusivity and accessibility?

As BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender enters its 14th year, the impact it has had on shaping the music festival culture in India is undeniable—it has become one of the largest events of its kind for Indian fans to come together and celebrate music as a community. We have always prioritized making this community an open and welcoming space for all. Thus, India’s festival scene following suit with our initiatives on the accessibility and inclusivity front is a strong positive sign for both the scene and the fans. Setting this high benchmark as the industry standard through BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender is raising the bar for all festivals and encouraging even up-and-coming musical events to make accessibility and inclusivity a priority. These steps will not only improve the festival attendance experience for a large number of Indian fans but also help us match global standards for festivals and become a world-class musical destination for fans and performers alike.

How has the year 2023 been for BACARDÍ overall, and what are your expectations from the year 2024?

The year 2023 has been an exciting one for BACARDÍ. As a brand, we are committed to keeping our consumers at the heart of everything we do and constantly innovating to create new and exciting offerings that resonate with them. This year, we have furthered our commitment to this goal by introducing a number of new offerings and experiences for our Indian consumers. On the product front, we have introduced two exciting new flavor variants for the classic BACARDÍ rum in the Indian market: BACARDÍ Green Lime & BACARDÍ Ginger, which have been very well received. In the area of experiences, we hosted several standout events across the country for our consumers to enjoy, such as the traveling BACARDÍ Rum Room, BACARDÍ pop-ups at leading cocktail festivals, and the signature CASA BACARDÍ parties—all of which received a tremendous response from our audiences. For the final month of the year, we will be hosting the 14th edition of the iconic BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, which boasts not only another thrilling lineup but also various features to make the festival more accessible and inclusive than ever before.

We are already hard at work on several thrilling projects and experiences for our consumers scheduled for the 2024 calendar, featuring fresh ideas brought to life with the signature BACARDÍ flair—and we are looking forward to introducing them to all our followers very soon.