EPIZODE festival, music and art spectacle that kicked off on the NYE on the beach of Vietnam’s paradise island Phu Quoc, has successfully ended its 11-day program! Running from December 31st till January 10th 2018 at three stages, EPIZODE has hosted the worlds’ most epic house and techno titans as CARL COX, RICHIE HAWTIN, RICARDO VILLALOBOS, DIXON, LOCO DICE, CHRIS LIEBING, NAKADIA, welcomed the most famous global party brands, as well as wide array of Asia based talents. Apart from the musical bliss, crowds from all over the world have experienced the dream-like artistic surrounding, action-packed day activities and hypnotizing atmosphere.
EPIZODE’s mind-blowing NYE brought the electronic music icon CARL COX, who was headlining the Main Stage, followed by Tyoma, Sacha Muki and Eric Powell. Phu Quoc’s Sunset Sanato beach was packed with visitors from all over the world, who were dancing until the morning hours.
HYTE, one of the world’s leading party institutions, presented their showcases on January 5th, 7th and 9th, while bringing the global heavyweights, such as DESOLAT founder LOCO DICE, techno–innovator RICHIE HAWTIN, Berghain’s resident MARCEL DETTMANN, power-duo PAN-POT, one of techno most famous ladies NICOLE MOUDABER, Saved Records NIC FANCIULLI, Rekids techno mistress PEGGY GOU, techno head YAYA and 50 Weapons man BAMBOUNOU. After smashing the Main stage, HYTE afterhours continued at Freesby stage, bringing many memorable moments such as LOCO DICE and CLR’s CHRIS LIEBING sunrise sets.
Moscow’s ARMA takeover on January 6th was another excellent event that continued until the evening hours the next day. Legendary RICARDO VILLALOBOS was headlining the event, laying down the epic sunrise set. He was accompanied by Perlon’s SAMMY DEE, micro-house masters DAN ANDREI, FUMIYA TANAKA and DENIS KAZNACHEEV. Nigh full of magic grooves continued until the next day, when RICARDO VILALLOBOS played exclusive sunset set.
EPIZODE hosted even more global dance music icons, such as Cadenza’s LUCIANO, Visionquest’s RYAN CROSSON, Paradise JAMIE JONES, Sci-Tec’s DUBFIRE, tINI b2b Bill Patric, house heavyweights AME and DIXON, Thailand’s techno sensation – NAKADIA. All DJ heroes were supported by EPIZODE residents – Russia’s highly acclaimed electronic music pioneer TYOMA, and internationally famous ROUSTAM who’s regularly conquering the hottest world’s events, from tINI and the Gang to Half Baked.
SUNSET PARTIES were one of the most magical events of the festival, headlined by RICARDO VILLALOBOS, LUCIANO and TYOMA, to name a few.
Festival welcomed the showcase of Asia’s talents at Eggs Stage, presenting DJs from Vietnam, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. They were bringing captivating sounds ranging from tribal house, through dark electro to solid techno. HIBIYA LINE – founder of Ho Chi Minh’s legendary club The Observatory, played alongside “The Obs” resident DAN LO. OUISSAM, owner of Hanoi’s Savage club that hosted Boiler Room’s SE Asia debut, presented his eclectic house grooves, followed by Savage resident, MINH8. Thailand’s very own and internationally acclaimed SUNJU HARGUN brought his signature shades of techno, while another Thailand DJ hero and Neverest records head honcho – DAN BURI, provided his high-octane performance. Singapore’s represents were ZIG ZACH is one of the key figures in Singapore’s underground scene and CATS ON CRACK, the lady behind the notorious Singapore’s underground hotspot The Council. Kuala Lumpur’s top names – ALAM and OBADIUS, has brought their magical progressive deep and melodic techno. Hong Kong’s leading DJ ladies OCEAN LAM and JO.D, has twisted crowds through deep techno tantrums to warm house tracks. MARCUS L, owner of Seoul’s iconic Faust club and Ameniia records, presented his syncopated brand of electronic music, MYLE spinned her fusion of organic, ethnic and synthetic sound, while Australia’s A FRIEND OF MARCUS transformed grinding beats, spacey techno and mechanical bliss into the sculpture of deep grooves and pure energy.
“Since last year’s debut, we invested significant resources to grow the festival and provide the best possible party experience to our guests. We brought the best world’s and Asia’s DJs to play this year. We’ve enriched the artistic setup and improved the infra-structure by adding more art installations and a special laser-shows, setting a nice restaurant and chill-out areas at the venue. Phu Quoc itself is a paradise tropical island with beautiful landscapes and beaches, and friendly local people, and our goal is to position EPIZODE as a perfect NYE music getaway. We are happy that this year, we had people from all over the world, enjoying parties, after parties and spreading a very special vibe we’re proud of”, Epizode organizational team have said, while adding: “Investing into the local Asia community is one of our priorities. We’re happy to provide the top-quality music program that push the boundaries in Asia, and we are happy to have hosted the best Asia’s DJ talents alongside the international superstars. This is just the beginning, we will keep on working closely with the local representatives and strengthening the relations with local community.”
Festival is organized by Sagrado Corp – a Moscow-based company coordinating all the venues of the holding. They are very active locally, co-organizing the cultural program of the international Expo in Astana, and organizing tours of many DJ and musicians in Moscow: Solomun, Wu Tang Clan, Carl Cox, Tiesto, Sven Vath, Luciano, W&W etc.