Vietnam’s annual Epizode electronic music festival is not for the faint-hearted – a mouth-watering selection of international DJs perform over 11 full days and nights.
While many of them can usually be found playing in dark nightclubs in cities such as Berlin or Detroit, Epizode instead presents them on stunning stages spread along Long Beach on Vietnam’s sunny southern Phu Quoc island, which is rapidly becoming one of Southeast Asia’s tourism hot spots.
The most recent instalment of Epizode – which ran from December 27 to January 7 – was the fourth edition of the festival to be staged in Vietnam, and featured 130 artists performing over four stages. The event attracted 12,000 music fans from 96 countries, according to the organisers, showing the very millennial trend of music festival tourism is alive and well in Asia.
A number of the biggest names in modern electronic music – including Detroit techno and house pioneers Carl Craig and Moodymann, and Germany-based DJs such as Ricardo Villalobos and Loco Dice – made appearances on the festival’s four stages.
Experiencing the event to the fullest makes for a long haul. “If you buy an 11-day ticket to Epizode, you’re coming for a real 11-day festival where music is always playing, and you are able to sleep and wake up whenever you want and you are always going to find music that you like,” said Epizode CEO Natasha Rogal.
This time around the festival focused on sustainability, and implemented a number of new environmental initiatives – such as a recycled-cup sharing system that dramatically cut back on plastic use. “We had 100 per cent recyclable dishes in the food court, we used disposable tableware made from recycled sugar cane, we replaced plastic straws with an organic alternative and we got rid of the biggest problem at every big festival – plastic water bottles,” Rogal said.
It’s not non-stop raving at Epizode. By day, along the beach decorated with large pieces of conceptual art, festival-goers were able to recharge at meditation and yoga sessions or by taking a gong bath, and attend discussions on environmental issues or tea culture.
The western side of Phu Quoc is famous for its gorgeous sunsets, and the energy level among the crowd started to rise at each night’s sunset DJ sessions. To catch many of the event’s biggest DJs, festival-goers had to pace themselves – starting times of 4am and 6am were not uncommon for some of Epizode’s main draws.
The biggest names could be found on Epizode’s main stage, which had been rebuilt for this year’s edition and featured a striking array of LED towers displaying dynamic video art. Created by Russian interactive media, production and conceptual design company Sila Sveta and lighting design studio Setup, the installation was a highlight of the 2019-20 festival, and displayed everything from mesmerising, evolving artworks to random messages to the audience.
“Every year we bring something new,” Rogal says. “Like any other festival, we try to grow, develop and change. And while watching our development trajectory we can see stable growth and development in all directions.”
Epizode appears set to make Phu Quoc its home for years to come, and the organisers are already looking forward to the 2020-21 edition. “The festival is over for the visitors, but it’s still going on for us – we’re still working on it.
“I want to focus more on the art component of the festival, either to build new art objects, or to collaborate with new artists. I also would like to strengthen the environmental angle with the involvement of the younger generation. The future that we are building is for our children, and children need to be taught how to treat the planet they live on with care,” Rogal says.