Over 30 arrests for drug possession at parties in Kenting over the weekend and an alleged assault by a police officer on a DJ ruined the party for some and raised questions about the continued viability of the annual event given the heavy-handed policing.
There were two arrests on Friday, but one offender got away, and 30 on Saturday night, mostly after 12pm when officers from Kenting, Hengchun, Pingtung and other areas raided parties taking place around the resort town. Plainclothes officers were also drafted for the operation.
For those who didn't get arrested it was a party-filled weekend. The weather was kind, despite forecasts of rain, with an early afternoon shower early on Saturday, clear weather afterward, and bright blue skies on Sunday. The atmosphere was generally relaxed and most people went on hikes, surfed or played watersports at nearby Nanwan beach when they weren't clubbing, or snacking on the main street and buying trinkets.
The free Love Shuttle event, on an 18-wheeler truck, was a success, as were the free parties on three nearby beaches, even if one called Moonlight was buffeted by wind on Friday and by police the next night.
The Love Parade through town with DJs @llen and Chozie was the best event. Their truck had, arguably, the best music and it was followed by another van packed with women dancing so enthusiastically that the vehicle shook to the ground and bounced up off its axel. That was followed by a "Dominatrix" on stilts wearing a skin-tight black suit, with studs, and a curved dildo so big it frightened everyone.
The original Spring Scream arts-music festival in the hills outside Kenting held its 10th birthday with a charming evening that peaked with Dynamite Club, from New York. They were led by the energetic Kentaro Saito, who is Japanese and was happy to strip to his underwear and then roll in the mud, still playing and singing. The Ilan-based foreigner trio Daymakers as a rhythm section are great, but they were even better with a frontman, in this case a woman in a small black dress who didn't sing but danced really well. I also liked the innovative DDDAO, two guys from Japan who make sounds with one PDA and a mic.
No arrests were made at Spring Scream, which finished every night for the past nine days at midnight. Spring Scream co-founder Jimmy Moe said he was saddened, but not surprised, that there had been trouble at the other, predominantly dance-music and hip-hop events that took place.
"The police have been here eight to 10 days, about 20 to 30 of them all in all. We don't mind. We want everything safe. At midnight we close and they run off to arrest the baddies," Moe said.
"It's too bad that our Spring Scream name has been expanded to cover the whole weekend. Yes, it's a great name, but a shame that it has become associated with raves and busts and stuff like that. We worked for 10 years to develop a live music and arts festival in Kenting and what should be called the `spring break weekend' has come to be known as the `Spring Scream weekend.'"
About 1,500 people were at Spring Scream on Saturday night and about 5,000 people attended the other events over the weekend.
This was less than previous years and there were vacancies at some hotels.
On Friday night, four events that were given permits were raided and a Kenting police officer said there was one arrest and one other incident, but the suspect escaped.
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