An honest review of Lager n Barrel Festival 2017 , Chandigarh !

Alice was in the wonderland and so was I at the third edition of ‘Lager n Barrel Festival’, Aura Vaseela, Mohali. Entering the maze-like walk-through of this magical place, I felt excitement bubbling inside me. The entrance gate was a breathtaking structure shaped like massive beer bottles made of recycled beer bottles. I could not help but wonder how many hours of hard work had been put into creating such an exquisite masterpiece.

As I stepped inside, it seemed as if the entire city had come to attend the festival. In front of me was a huge life-size headphone which was every music lover’s dream come true. There was large stilt walker entertaining the crowd. My first stop was the beer bar which was decorated very uniquely with the bar roof made of hay. Imagine my happiness when I got a complimentary beer with my entry ticket.

Later I headed towards the ’Food Arena’ the finger licking delicacies of the Food Arena were scrumptious gourmet delights. There was a buzz of activities all around. At once, I came across a do-it-yourself painting wall, the passersby were freely drawing on it. My friends and I indulged in this activity, having the time of our lives as we kept scribbling for hours. We then came across a fancy photo booth where we captured the memories of this place using the quirky props provided.

Me and my friends then decided to sit on the mats in front of the stage. I sipped  fine beer and enjoyed the live performances by Bollywood singers like Mohammed Irrfan, Milind Gaba and Raghu Dixit Project, Online sensation Shirley Setia and Asees Kaur, popular artists like Gurnazar live, Bombay Bairag and more. I was taken aback by the decorations. The ambiance oozed sophistication and joy.

Fairy lights; music and endless beer kept my spirit soaring. The festival encouraged all forms of art and catered to everyone, even those who did not come for the beer tasting. People enjoyed fun activities like Beer Pong, Sac Race, Tic- Tac- Toe, Life-Size Scrabble, Beer Frisbee, Beer Relay and many more. I had an incredible time during the festival. My feet throbbed and yet I could not stop myself from dancing. I drank endless amounts of beer and let go of my worries. In my opinion, this festival is the best way for friends and family to come together and enjoy.

Surely a lifetime experience to remember !

In 2015, Chandigarh saw a revolutionary change with one of its kind beer fest- The Lager n Barrel Festival

For someone like me who is always on the look-out for something new, its natural to run out of things to do when you have been born and brought up in a city like Chandigarh. Only heaven knows how thrilled I was when the big rock of boredom was lifted off my chest.

The moment I learned about the fest, I made a few calls, gathered all my friends and set my mind to having one hell of a weekend. Its no surprise that I was immediately enticed by beer, music, food, games and the entire “aura” of the festival.

Set amidst the the green terrains, it was a world of its own!

Sipping on some amazing variety of beers, dancing to the live tunes of Team Jassie Babbal, Dilpreet Dhillon, Amrit Maan, Gurnazar, Deepak Rathore Project among many others had my heart fluttering like a little child! One of my fondest memories from the festival is when my once reluctant teetotaler friends started to go gaga over the games and “Urstage” with their partners. It was immensely satisfying to see all my friends enjoy a moment together despite the varying opinions they had before we got there.

I think its safe to say that the enthralling weekend escapade gave everyone a taste of international music and booze fests.The robust vibe, the vibrant and edgy beer bottle decor, the insanely fun games, the starry night, the new friends made over food and beer and a heart full of memories-surely a classic case of “love at first pint”.

Its coming back! Lager n Barrel Festival 2016 on September 24-25!

To the last hours of LNB 2015

Well, it was the second and the last day of the festival. The thrilling beer games combined with creativity, live music, artistic installations and of course, unlimited beer (I’m enticed by the aroma of these beers, even while writing about it) along with culinary delights gave the festival attendees an event to remember for life. It was so enlivening that even the most reserved started to spin, hence becoming the centre of attraction and surprising people all around.

The unabated 2-day festival was now coming to an end minute by minute. But the music was still high and the moon gleaming upon the half-naked branch was clearly shouting out loud that the night is still young..

Time flies in the blink of an eye. I am sure it does, since the same happened during the two-day festival everyone had been waiting for so long. Slowly people starting moving out and it all came to an end but on a very beatific note.

Every good thing comes to an end, but not necessarily forever which is why we soon decided to make it an annual event and hence, we have come up with ‘Lager n Barrel Festival 2016‘

We will forever be beholden to all those who became a part of ‘Lager n Barrel Festival 2015’. Now it’s time for ‘Lager n Barrel Festival 2016‘ and we are hoping to see many more happy faces savouring the flavour of the festival this time. It’s been quite a time since the first edition of ‘Lager n Barrel Festival’, but the memories are still fresh and alive in the minds of each and everyone who witnessed the mega-event.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, Spring Season, when you either plan for a new beginning or you just want to chill out wildly. Hence, LnB 2016 has the perfect plan & place for you. We have evolved and lot will be seen and experienced this coming edition.

We resolute to make this festival your favourite gateway to experience bliss.

Riding Spirits at the Festival

As they say,

‘When the thump becomes your heartbeat, only then you know what it is like to ride a Bullet‘

It’s robust,
It’s classic,
It’s powerful,
It’s beautiful,
It’s stable,
And it’s distinctive.

It’s a passion like no other. People who own Bullet say it is a mighty beast and never disappoints the rider, which explains the sheer love for this machine.

Since Beer, Men and Bullet are synonymous to each other, we thought of having a ‘Royal Enfield’ exhibition just to cater to the love of bullet lovers.

We had somewhere around 150 bikers who came from all across North India including Himachal, Jammu, Chandigarh, Manali. They had different sorts of ‘Royal Enfield’ bikes and it was displayed across the main festival gate. The Festival attendees were fancying all types of royal enfield bikes presented by way of exhibition.

The ‘Royal Enfield’ bikers were present both the days and enjoyed to the fullest. Punjabi music-plus-Beer kept them a notch higher than other festival attendees. Not only did they themselves basked in the fun activities all around them but they also helped other festival attendees savour the essence of ‘Lager n Barrel Festival’.

As you walk through the Festival..

Few hours into the festival and the place soon became a darling to everyone who had smelled, sipped some fine beers and made beautiful memories. It was a terrific 2-day event, a relentless onslaught of finest beers from around the city.

The beer gave a beautiful lightness to whole of the festival environment as was apparent in all the attendees conduct, who were seen laying down on the grass savoring the flavor of music that was being played in every nook and corner, whistling at friends, giggling at their inside jokes and competing with their friends in the Beer games being played in the ‘Bottom’s Up Arena‘.

As some of you may recall, the ‘Collective Passion‘ area, wherein the festival attendees expressed their love for the festival in a very colorful way and how it got a little messy when everyone brought out their hidden artist while painting their heart out by way of messages. That’s what it is, ‘Lager n Barrel’ is all about being free spirited and exploring & traversing through the orchestrated setting all around.

This festival is for all those people who are free-spirited, love music and  also, who want an escape from their daily monotonous routines to cast away their lethargy because here you will experience a whole new world of music, drinks and truly enough of fun games to make your heart pump out a lot of oxygen.

Beer, Music and Much More…

The gentle breeze, green trees & grasses, artistic decors and a night full of life, all together created an exhilarating mood; the place very evidently made the fire in the hearth dance.

..And I am still struggling to find apt words to describe the Musical Evening of the two-day gala event.

It was oh-so-magical.

What so great about ‘Lager n Barrel Festival‘ is the versatility of artists, who come and perform at our oh-so-raw ‘Pro-Stage’. Hence, the enticing music makes the dance pit jam-packed with the festival goers dancing and grooving to the tunes.

Gurnazar, Deepak Rathore Project, Aaayat The Fusion Band and many more made everyone sweaty with hands in the air, and it was undoubtedly AMAZING!

Well, by now, you might be wanting to ask, does it come every year? And what else beside Beer ?

Answer to the former question is YES and to the latter, it comes along with live music, beer games, interesting activities, Djs combined with food pairing experiences. And fret not we’ve got more to come, this year.

…& the Beer-Stalls,

Just as we expected,  the beer stalls were packed with beer lovers  I remember seeing a guy holding a beer bottle on his head and dancing his heart out. That’s how you PARTY LIKE A PUNJABI.

“Rocking, Rolling, out of the WORLD experience of Lager n Barrel Festival-2015”

The tale of the ambience!

Until 2014, no Beer Festival existed in North India and when the bubbles overflowed from glasses on the evening of 19th & 20th September of 2015, the city made a loud voice of celebration.

That evening was pretty unusual with flocks of people from in and around City-beautiful: Chandigarh, walking up to our venue, almost in awe. All around, one could see faces gleaming bright with oh-so-pretty smiles and bodies grooving to the music being played in every nook and corner.

The very first thing that caught everyone’s eye that day was the ambience and aura of the venue that was so beer-y and raw. Entry to the venue, The Pro-Stage, The Activities area and The Bottom’s-up arena, were all decked out in a charming ensemble and with a proper mood lighting to suit the frame of mind of the beer lovers present.

What was even more beautiful was the ravishing backdrop of our ‘Pro-Stage’. It was a perfect example of making the best out of the waste. An optimum use of bamboos and discarded beer bottles made up for a marvelous ‘Pro-Stage’.

A lot was undertaken and pulled together to create an atmosphere as raw as possible, to provide a full rustic feel to whole of the festival & to provide the beer lovers with an opportunity to celebrate, have good times with friends and create good memories.