Darjeeling police have announced a whopping total prize award of ₹18 lakh for its annual music festival — the Darjeeling MELOtea Festival.

MELOtea is inspired by the words “melody” and “tea” and is projected as a community development and outreach programme of the Darjeeling police that aims to promote the region’s rich and famous culture and tradition.

The tagline of the fest is: “Tea, tunes and strings”.

The five-day festival, which is being held in collaboration with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, at Chowrasta Darjeeling from December 18 to 22 will be preceded by the Darjeeling Hill Marathon which attracts international runners.

However, the details of the marathon have not been announced yet.

This year, the English open band competition is named “D-Rock” with a total cash prize of ₹12 lakh. While the winners will take ₹6 lakh, the first and second runners-up will take home a cash prize of ₹4 lakh and ₹2 lakh, respectively.

Last year a total of 12 bands, seven from Darjeeling and Mirik and one each from Sikkim, Calcutta, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Shillong, had made it to the finals to compete for the prize award of ₹10 lakh.

The performance was judged by members of the famous Indian rock band Parikrama who also performed as a tribute to their late band member Sonam Sherpa from Kalimpong.

“This year a Nepali rock competition will also be organised as a new addition to this year’s festival,” said a source.

A prize of ₹6 lakhs is up for grabs in the Nepali competition. The winner will be rewarded with ₹3 lakh while the first and second runners-up will receive
₹2 lakh and ₹1 lakh, respectively.

There will also be an acoustic solo singer-songwriter competition where participants will get to showcase their original songs in English and Nepali.

The winner will be awarded ₹25,000 while the first and second runners-up will receive ₹15,000 and ₹10,000, respectively.

Last year, the marathon had a cash reward worth ₹9.8 lakh.