Wow and Flutter wants to be more than just another summer music event for Hong Kong
This new indie festival is about more than just the music, says its organiser – it’s also about creating a sense of community and rejuvenating local live performance
On the surface, a new two-day outdoor festival headlined by some of Hong Kong’s biggest home-grown independent bands might appear to be just another summer music event. But to the organisers and some of the participating artists, the Wow and Flutter Weekend is an opportunity to review the city’s cultural position and recreate a sense of community that has disappeared into the past.
“I did not just want to stage a music event – I wanted to organise an event that could bring Hong Kong people together, an event that would help build a small community,” says Hong Ka-chun, a Hong Kong indie music veteran and the man behind the Wow and Flutter Weekend, which makes its debut in West Kowloon Cultural District on August 13 and 14.
While Clockenflap features a mix of global and local acts geared more towards an international audience, the two-day outdoor festival is a stocktaking of Hong Kong’s indie music scene of the past 20 years – what could be called the post-Beyond era, the years following the breakthrough success of the trailblazing Hong Kong rock band who emerged in 1987.
More than 50 acts from big indie names to rising stars will be out in full force spread over three stages. Veteran acts LMF and King Ly Chee will be joined by other popular acts including Chochukmo, Rubberband, Supper Moment and Killersoap on the Hong Kong stage. The Kowloon stage, curated by veteran music critic Yuen Chi-chung, will feature a range of rising indie stars such as Jing Wong, Life Was All Silence and Teenage Riot. Young acts hand picked by StreetVoice Hong Kong’s music director Oliver Ching such as David Boring, Underklot and Mr Rocket Head will lead the New Territories Stage.