Expats Wade Davis and Jimi Moe started Spring Scream music festival in 1995 with a handful of musicians and artists near the entrance to Kenting National Park. A few years later, local ravers got in on the act.
Now, Spring Scream is often confused with the dance music parties that take place in the area during the "Spring Scream Weekend." What makes Spring Scream stand out from the dance scene is the organizers' focus on bands.
"There has been no change in our philosophy. When ravers come to our festival, they will immediately know the difference. We have more than 200 bands playing on stage, featuring all kinds of music like rock, funk, rap, pop, punk, experimental and under-ground," Spring Scream's co-founder and organizer Davis said.
To be exact, this year's lineup is comprised of 250 bands that were chosen from 350 applicants. Seventy percent of the scheduled bands are local acts, 15 percent are composed of foreigners living in Taiwan, and another 15 percent come from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, Europe and the UK.
The festival site is situated at Liufu Ranch (
There are also plenty of new faces in town. "It's just incredible to see how many great bands are coming out of Taiwan. If you ask me to choose my favorites, I just have to name them all," Davis said.
Highlights from the foreign act lineup include MTV Asia Awards winner Saw Loser from Singapore, Japan's guitar playing DJ and singer Poplar and rap band Shanbhala from the US.
A major change to the festival format is the addition of a stage for DJs. "There are so many styles of dance music apart from the rave beats. We have DJs playing along with bands, with lap-tops or LPs. They feature an amazing variety of music such as hip hop, bossa nova, R&B, reggae and world music. We are here to offer variety," Davis said.
Apart from the music, Spring Scream is also an arts and film festival. The outdoor film festival will feature 10 films and numerous shorts on the theme of music.
Local police have kept a close eye on the dance parties held on previous Spring Scream weekends and arrested dozens of partygoers for the possession of drugs. Spring Scream concert-goers, Davis said, can rest easy as "The festival has never been raided. We have good relations with the police."
Since thousands of people will be surging into the town over the weekend, transportation and accommodation can pose serious problems. Most hotels and bed-and-breakfasts in the vicinity hiked their prices and are fully booked. Camping seems to be the cheapest option.
Apart from the fields at the Liufu Ranch, Kenting South Ocean camping ground (
Charter buses to Kenting will leave daily from The Wall (這牆), Taipei, at midnight starting tonight. From Sunday until April 10, Taipei-bound buses will depart from Kenting at 2pm daily. One-way tickets cost NT$1,000, round-trip tickets cost NT$1,800. Call (02) 2704 0792 or (02) 2704 8951 for more details.
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