Shillong, Dec 7: The Meghalaya government is all praise for the Me·gong Festival 2025, which was held over the weekend in Garo Hills, but not everyone had a positive experience, with at least one local artist said that local acts were disrespected by the organisers.
KiDo AlpH, half of the two-man G-Hills Finest group, wrote a stinging critique of the festivals, especially the way local musicians were treated.
“Whoever organised Me’gong Festival this year seriously needs to stop,” he wrote on Instagram. “This is very immature. You all should actually attend other festivals and see how things are properly planned and handled.”
Referring to specific failings, he said that the bouncers’ attitude was “extremely unprofessional” and that artists were not allowed easy access, even to the area where their belongings were kept despite being given artist passes (wristbands). “Never have we experienced treatment as bad as last night,” he added, referring to previous gigs at festivals in Meghalaya and elsewhere.
“Our legendary band, Rough Road, was disrespected. Nokpante was disrespected. They couldn’t even provide a green room for all artists. Our set was cut down from a 30-minute performance to just two songs,” the post went on. “Are local artists not important?”
The local performers were also left physically exhausted after the festival’s shuttle service was not available to take them back to the car park.
“They told us to park our car at Baljek Airport and picked us up with their so-called shuttle. But when we were about to return at night, they said the shuttle is suddenly unavailable. We were like, “What?” How do you expect us to walk 3-4km with a DJ and laptops and all the accessories? The crazy thing is, we actually had to walk that entire distance until our legs gave out,” KiDo AlpH said.
His post generated several comments, a few of which claimed that it was a waste of money to buy premium tickets as there was nothing to stop fans from silver and gold categories entering the platinum area.
