What better way to unwind and enjoy the perfect Sunday than with good food and great music? Foodies and music lovers thronged the Pebble Jungle Lounge at Palace Grounds for the second edition of the popular BLR Food Truck + Music Festival for the perfect combination of mouth-watering delicacies and foot-tapping beats on Sunday.
Bringing together people from all walks of life in the city with passion for food and music, the over 12-hour event turned out to be a carnival for families and friends who were assured they made the right choice for their Sunday escapade. Following the success of its first edition in September this year, the second edition saw the confluence of talented reggae artistes enthralling the audience with colourful food trucks serving up the best food from an array of cuisines.
First timers Giri and Roshini, a couple working in the IT sector, described the atmosphere as ‘vibrant, energetic and full of life”. Featuring 13 of the best food trucks in the city and a reggae line-up of artistes to match, the festival united people from a wide range of backgrounds and tastes.
Surrounded by a soothing ambience of lights and décor in natural settings, the aroma of food triggered salivary glands on one side while flamboyant reggae music had the crowd grooving and syncing with the tunes. Apart from the food and music, the sun rays penetrating through the tree canopy set the mood for the audience to indulge in sketching the scenario and shading their perspectives. Ami from Japan who believes in reggae music swayed along with the rhythm and this assembled more believers to sway along with her.
It was hypnotic to see people swinging along below the glittering lights. United by their love for reggae and food, Devina Reismueller from Germany, a freelance teacher, feels “It’s nice to see people trying reggae music in India. The food prices are pretty reasonable and the ambience is amazing.”
While the food trucks’ menus ranged from heterogeneous options of yummy fries and huge burgers to rolls, biryani and street eats, one of the crowd favourites was The Great Indian Bhukkad serving exclusively vegetarian food.
Most foreigners were seen merrily munching on rolls, while kids flooded the Ice Cream Buggy in glee. Srikanth, the manager of Wicked Chef who set up his food truck for the second time, says: “The festival is bigger and growing. It’s got more food and people are having a lot more fun than ever before!”
Comparing it to the previous edition, event organiser Haris says this time, it was way bigger. “There is more variety of food. The music is completely different since last time it was hip-hop. We hope to have the third edition in the second week of December.”
With the sun setting and the stars twinkling overhead, the crowd soon took to some serious aural entertainment with popular Indian reggae artistes taking centre stage and grooving the night away. Mingling with the audience, the artistes settled in with the crowd to render some spectacular hits. King Jassim, a reggae singer from Agumbe appreciated that Bengaluru is opening itself up to the niche genre. “It’s been a long time coming and you don’t find this kind of dedicated gathering anywhere else. I am having absolute fun and loving it!”
Upcoming rapper Nupur Jha aka Femcee Evil performed a track named ‘Befikar’ dedicated to Nirbhaya, the Delhi rape victim. “Despite it being a Hindi song, it was great to see the audience, many of whom were foreigners, support and appreciate the effort.”
The party went on late into the night giving the people of Bengaluru a Sunday they would cherish for a long time.
