How Singapore’s ZoukOut dance festival grew into a two-day event with 40,000 in the crowd

The first, single-day ZoukOut, headlined by Canadian techno legend Richie Hawtin, was attended by 9,000 people. These days, the two-day event, which still takes places on Sentosa island’s Siloso Beach, attracts 40,000. “It’s pretty wonderful to see that number of people dancing to the same beat,” says ZoukOut CEO Andrew Li.

This year’s line-up is headed by anonymous, bucket-wearing house and EDM DJ Marshmello; Australian future bass pioneer Flume; Axwell and Ingrosso, two thirds of supergroup Swedish House Mafia; and Asian hip hop sensations Rich Chigga and Higher Brothers. The extensive line-up also includes Yellow Claw, Robin Schulz, Claptone, Gui Boratto, DJ Snake and Amelie Lens.

In the increasingly crowded music festival market, ZoukOut has the advantages of longevity and association with Zouk the club. Still, says Li, it might soon be reaching saturation point. “I think it’s starting to happen, to be honest. So many festivals are expanding aggressively, and I often see festivals not going ahead: because of higher DJ costs and a kind of festival fatigue among regular clubbers. I think the bigger festivals can survive and the smaller boutique ones as well. But they have to provide an experience – just having DJs isn’t going to be enough.”

That desire to provide an experience will manifest itself at this year’s ZoukOut in the form of a 50-metre bungee-jumping tower, a giant dual-swing system, a vertical skywalk and a 40-metre sky bridge.

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