Mega electronic dance music fest coming here

Mega electronic dance music fest coming here

Ultra Singapore, the Singapore edition of one of the biggest electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in the world, will be held here on Sept 10 and 11.

It will make Singapore the only country in South-east Asia to host a full- fledged edition of the festival in the region.

The outdoor festival will feature three stages and 40 artists to be announced later. It will be held at a place that organiser Ultra Singapore describes as an "iconic venue".

Early-bird tickets go on sale from Tuesday at 11am. Two-day tickets cost US$135 (S$194) each. Premium tickets, which include express entry lanes and premium access to dedicated restrooms and food and beverage stalls, are US$160 each.

The Ultra brand was founded in 1997 by executive producer, president and chief executive Russell Faibisch. Last year's Ultra Miami drew over 165,000 people.

Mr Alexander Chew, 30, executive producer and partner of Ultra Singapore, says: "We are excited that the full festival is coming here. We want to provide fans in the region the proper Ultra experience after the success of last year's Road To Ultra here."

Last year, Singapore was one of the venues for Road To Ultra, a smaller, one-day event that is part of a series of dance music parties launched by the producers of the famed dance music festival brands Ultra and Ultra Worldwide.

The event here saw superstar DJs Skrillex, Alesso and Nicky Romero play to an 11,000-strong crowd at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Sept 19. The organisers said early-bird tickets for the event sold out in 21 minutes from the time they were released.

Ultra Singapore hopes to draw 20,000 partygoers each day for the main event. Mr Chew says: "Our goal is to bring world-class DJs and live acts here."

This year, Ultra Festivals will be held in 10 other countries, including Japan, South Korea and Croatia.

Ultra Singapore will be a rival to the 15-year-old ZoukOut, a mega outdoor electronic dance music festival held by Singapore nightlife brand Zouk. Both events target partygoers in the region.

ZoukOut, which is held annually at year-end at Siloso Beach in Sentosa, has consistently drawn big crowds.

Last year's event drew more than 45,000 people over two days. Big name DJs such as Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto headlined last year's edition, with two-day festival passes going at $258 each.

Mr Chew does not think Ultra Singapore or ZoukOut will suffer because of the competition.

"Last December, 70,000 people went to Djakarta Warehouse Project, while more than 40,000 went to ZoukOut that same weekend. We're four months apart from those events, so I think there's enough market share to go around," he says.

BOOKIT/ULTRA SINGAPORE

WHERE: Venue to be announced

WHEN: Sept 10 and 11

ADMISSION: Early-bird tickets at US$135 (S$194) for two-day admission or US$160 for two day premium admission. Tickets goon saleon Tuesday at 11am. Go to www.ultrasingapore.com

anjalir@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on January 15, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.