A friend and I have flown into Singapore just to attend the ZoukOut festival this weekend. It’s the biggest turnout out of its 13 year history with 41,000 people attendence and a relatively strong line up. Also with the cancellation of Alesso for the Stereosonic Australian Music Festival shows, it would be a great opportunity to see him. So let’s put on some onesies and see how it is!
ZoukOut Music Festival 2013 @ Silosa Beach, Sentosa Island, Singapore
ZoukOut Festival
Essentials:
Opening Hours:
Friday: 8PM? – 5AM
Saturday: 8PM? – 8AM
The times suit the climate of Singapore, as it often rains during the daytime, while at night there is a lesser chance of rain occurring. Both nights the weather at night turned out clear.
Address:
It’s held on Silosa Beach, Sentosa Island
Parking:
Pretty much everyone caught a taxi here or caught a shuttle bus from a nearby MRT station. If you were lucky you could have booked a hotel on Sentosa.
Venue Website:
http://www.sentosa.com.sg
Event Website:
http://www.zoukout.com
Promoters:
http://www.zoukclub.com
Occurrence:
Every year since 2000
Dress Code / Door Policy:
Pretty much anything is allowed, bar being nude. A guy even brought in a blow up doll without any troubles. I wore my bumblebee onesie, which turned out to be one of the worst decisions made in a humid place such as Singapore.
Beach pre drinks
Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
Two Day Festival Pass: $168 SGD
Day 1 Happy Hour (entry before 10PM): $88
Day 1 Advance [1st release]: $98
Day 1 Standard [2nd release]: $108
Day 1 Tickets at the event: $118
Day 2 Happy Hour (entry before 10PM): $98
Day 2 Advance [1st release]: $108
Day 2 Standard [2nd release]: $118
Day 2 Tickets at the event: $128
Each day is assigned a separate wristband. My friend got caught out and we assumed the wristband applied for both days (as per Stereosonic). He didn’t bring his ticket for Day 2 and the guys at the counter would not accept a wristband and online receipt as official acceptance of payment – he had to sit out Day 2.
Passouts:
So long as you had a wristband you were able to go in and out of the beach as you please.
Cloak Room:
Yes. $20 SGD
Tonight:
Outside Line:
Day 1: Quite fast
Day 2: Quite slow. Loads more people attended Day 2 and a lot of cutting the line was involved.
Inside:
Entrance is on the East Side of Silosa beach. Various bars and stalls are scattered around the beach. The Star Stage is the first big stage on the right, while the Main Stage is on the West Side of the beach. There are other smaller areas with swimming pools and ‘VIP’ areas to hang out which have views of the stages. The best VIP area would probably be the Citibank area, with well a lit decor and front Pool, while being near the Main Stage on the Western side.
Strawberry
Bar Prices / Line:
The wait was about 10-15 minutes for a drink on average. This year saw the introduction of the pre-paid card system for drinks, which is becoming the standard for most music festivals.
$10 for all Mixed Vodkas, Gins, Bourbons, Whiskeys [Mixed with Green Tea, Coke, Sprite or Soda]
$5 for Redbull, Soft Drinks, Green Tea.
Tip: As in most Asian countries, the cheapies (including myself) pretty much got their pre-drinks from 7-Eleven and drank outside on the beach before going in. There was only one 7-Eleven on the way to Silosa beach and it was packed. The 7-Eleven employees were just dishing out the alcohol and beers, while people queued for drinks.
DJs: (Internationals listed here, but there were also many other local acts)
Day 1: 12th Planet (US), Benga (UK), Afrojack (NED), Example & DJ Wire (UK), Ferry Corsten (NED), Krewella (US), NERVO (AUS) ,Otto Knows (SWE)
Day 2: Teal / Nitelist Music (WOMB, TOKYO), Alesso (SWE), Danny Avila (SPA), Dash Berlin (NED), Kölsch (DEN), Lee Foss & Anabel Englund (US), Martin Solveig (FRA), Seth Troxler (US), Solomun (GER), Zedd (GER), Cyberjapan Dancers (JPN)
Entertainment:
The theme this weekend seemed to be Wings/Flight.People were walking around with associated costumes.
Fireworks show on Day 2.
Atmosphere:
On the beach outside it’s quite chilled despite many people being out there doing their predrinks. They are quite friendly too. A lot of people are from overseas and are more than happy to randomly chat and party with you 🙂
In the mosphit it gets quite warm near the front, and you are pretty much surrounded by guys- Lots of them.
The only girls who were here were
– Those who were mega fans of the DJ playing, or
– Girls who were obliged to hangout with their boyfriends.
Alesso Crowd Main stage – ZoukOut Festival
As of other festivals, being in humid Singapore gives guys even a better excuse to take off their shirts.
Video:
Day 1 Timeline
Day 2 Timeline
My own night
Afrojack was alright but his last song died halfway lol. So then he sucks it up to the crowd by pretty much indirectly making the other festivals I’ve been to look crap.
I met some drug dealer and he offered me something. I said no, but by some kind of sorcery, he obtained my phone number, and he pretty much was calling me all night to see if I knew people who he could sell to. It was so bad he even called me in the MORNING at 10:30AM the next day to try to sell me drugs. I only had 3 hours of sleep and I’m being told “Trust me, once you try this, you won’t regret it”. Like, seriously. omg. no. I value my life.
At one point I ran out of money (lol) for drinks, and I was short by like 10 cents. The tight ass at the counter wouldn’t give me a drink, but a random DJ called Max just paid the whole thing for me. What a nice guy, thanks Max.
Also, don’t wear onesies to Singapore. It was probably one of the worst decisions I have done. I sweated so much. and my backpack got drenched in sweat.
Upon Departure
Spent the final 30 minutes helping a girl find her phone. What a bitch it was to get out of the main stage area. This place was so packed.
Final Thoughts & Recommendation
Yeah, come here if you haven’t seen the line up. Otherwise it feels like a concert on the sand. The turnout this year 41,000 but it was smaller than that of Stereosonic. If you had to pick a day, just go for Day 2 as it’s a stronger line up with a busier atmosphere.