The Script, Jason Derulo and arm wrestling at Shillong’s Cherry Blossom Festival 2025

After spending an full time successful flights and taxis to get Shillong, my archetypal existent sensation of Meghalaya came successful Nongpoh, with a comforting sheet of jadoh — yellowish atom with pork — which felt similar a quiescent prelude to the chaos ahead.

This was besides my first-ever performance experience, which I admitted shyly to different festival-goer. She grinned and said, “That’s cleanable — you won’t cognize what to expect.” She was right.

The pursuing morning, the metropolis prepared to big its celebrated euphony fête, the Cherry Blossom Festival. Strolling the narrow, bustling streets, packed with postulation arsenic travellers from crossed India arrived, I could consciousness the metropolis picking up rhythm, gathering toward a full-blown crescendo by evening erstwhile the performance began.

Across the city, festival pockets were warming up, including Ward’s Lake — location to the Japan Arena and 1 of the festival’s astir beauteous venues, wherever the cherry blossom trees bloom. The setting, reminiscent of an anime series with its pinkish florals, torii gates and lanterns, is simply a homage to the taste ties betwixt Japan and Meghalaya. From stalls selling effect wines to origami workshops and photograph points with patrons successful kimonos, this quaintly pinkish country lived up to its presumption arsenic a festival landmark.

Earlier, a fewer euphony artists from the Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project performed astatine this venue. One of them, Daphi Pyngrope, a diehard Adele fan, said, “I americium truthful excited to beryllium present astatine this festival, and I americium looking guardant to watching The Script.”

Hip hop, Alt stone and wrestling

This unpredictability — strobing lights, sharply dressed crowds, and the sheer standard of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — deed maine each astatine erstwhile arsenic adL and Dappest opened the night. Thousands had gathered astatine the auditorium for an evening of philharmonic spectacle.

Originally from Shillong, the hip-hop-R&B duo, adL and Dappest, says, “It feels astonishing to execute here. It’s our location turf, and the euphony civilization present is fantastic.” The enactment lasted 30 minutes, consisting of originals from their albums At Your Service and Heartbreaks and Heartbeats. The duo combines lyrical prime of hip-hop portion maintaining a smoothness successful sonic texture, arsenic heard successful R&B music.

At the 2nd venue, I caught the Shillong-based alt-rock band, Bending Waves. Their enactment featured an unreleased archetypal called Pain, and a fewer different tracks.

The festival crushed featured a premix of events from a pageant contention to limb wrestling. It was fascinating to ticker the men’s and women’s categories conflict it out, portion the crowds cheered them on. The wrestlers had coaches connected their side, giving them tips and motivating them to propulsion aft each bout.

When the adrenaline got maine hungry, I joined the crowds astatine the nutrient stalls, offering tender crispy pork and buttery fried silkworms. The smoked pork refried successful the lipid with onions and chillies, were small crispy brackish bombs, combining beautifully with the flimsy sweetness of lightly fried onions. The greenish chillies springiness it an other kick. Other dishes successful the paper included smoked beef, prawns and chickenhearted drumsticks.

The Headliners connected heartbreak

Canadian dancer-actress Nora Fatehi acceptable the signifier connected occurrence dancing to Yo Yo Honey Singh’s ‘Payal’ and ‘Kusu Kusu’ sung by Dev Negi and Zara Khan from the movie Satyamev Jayate 2, among others. She sang and performed her original, ‘It’s True’, featuring CKay, connected stage. Nora besides crooned her opus ‘Oh Mama! TETEMA’, sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Rayvanny. While the actor’s moves brought a burst of vigor to the evening, her singing could person been better.

Jason Derulo took the signifier with his way Swalla featuring Nicki Minaj. He pushed up the tempo with ‘Let Me Take You Dancing’ and ‘Spicy Margarita’. The assemblage erupted erstwhile helium sang his iconic ‘Jalebi Baby’, featuring Tesher.

Headliners The Script got connected the signifier a fewer minutes aft eight. The pb vocalist of the Irish stone collective, Danny O’Donoghue, made a melodramatic entranceway done the visibly delighted crowd. The band, which was performing successful India for the archetypal time, began with a rendition of ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’, moving the assemblage with soulful verses astir heartbreak, calved retired of idiosyncratic experiences. They besides dedicated their opus ‘If You Could See Me Now’ to the precocious Mark Sheehan.

The astir moving infinitesimal came erstwhile they invited a fan, Mihir to execute with them. Mihir and Danny played ‘Never Seen Anything Quite Like You’ connected the piano, portion the stadium joined in. Holding up a banner with a chat screenshots of Danny promising him a video call, Mihir ran up to the stage, cheering, arsenic if helium had waited his full beingness for that moment. “I ever support my promises,” Danny stated connected signifier earlier asking him, to beryllium down and play the soft with him. Mihir was asked to play a azygous key. He besides sang a fewer lyrics of the opus connected the mic.

The corporate sang their hits ‘For the First Time’ and ‘Break Even’ during their set. They concluded with the opus Hall of Fame, which proved an affectional opus for the assemblage and me. The lines, “You tin determination a mountain, you tin interruption rocks,” resonated with galore of america successful listening and waving our hands, arsenic we await our hallway of fame infinitesimal successful life.