Phuket Music Festival Returns

Phuket Music Festival returns

PHUKET: -- The Phuket Music Festival will take place next weekend, June 25-26, the Bangkok Post reminds us.

Hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Provincial Government of Phuket in conjunction with the brewers of Singha Beer, the festival aims to promote tourism to Phuket.

This free concert, held for the second consecutive year (but last year titled 'RoyFest'), is expected to draw 50,000 local and international visitors to the island with two evenings of dance music performed by international artists and DJs.

It will be in the concept of a 'Beach Dance Party', and will feature a throng of local artists.

“The Phuket Music Festival is the biggest and most comprehensive free concert on the seaside in the South of Thailand, and one of the most unique concerts ever held....' said TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni.

'Besides the natural environment of 'The Pearl of the Andaman', the island now has a music festival that will create a legend by transforming the white sandy beach into Thailand's largest, moonlit dance floor for everyone to enjoy,” he added.

But if reports from last year's inaugural music festival were accurate, local residents of Karon Beach and surrounding areas, particularly those in the posh condos and five-star hotel rooms along the strand, found the music a bit over the top in terms of volume and duration.

While the event did draw large crowds, its desirability for environmentally-challenged Phuket became a topic of some considerable heat in the 'debates' in the Gazette online forum, with perceived beauty being very much in the ears of the beholder.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-06-19