“The hills have eyes, the hills have eyes,” R&B sensation The Weeknd sings on his latest opus, The Beauty Behind the Madness. If he were singing about this weekend, he would be specifically focused on the Yen Family Ranch (顏氏牧場) in the mountains of Puli Township, Nantou County, where the hills will witness the fifth incarnation of Earthfest.
Going by the name Revolutions, the party begins today at 7pm and runs until Sunday afternoon at 1pm. It features 42 hours of non-stop music on two stages and a smaller side stage for chill out acts. The music covers the whole electronic music spectrum, from psytrance to techno to glitch hop to ghetto funk and more.
This year, Earthfest invited 15 international DJs, as well as 45 local DJs, to come deep into the mountains and play cutting-edge tunes. The 50,000-watt sound system promises to rock the hippy pants off people, and the decor will blow people’s minds.
Photo courtesy of Azul Doong
Kelvin Alders, one of the creators of Earthfest, said that more than 320 hours have gone into getting the site cleaned, set up and decorated, and stages built.
At the last Earthfest in 2013, partygoers were wowed by a DJ booth that was located inside a neon orb. The orb has been used for a few other festivals, and will be back with some new surprises.
“My inspiration for Earthfest comes from seeing its beginning, all the hard team work, crazy designs and doing something fresh and different just because we can,” Alders said in an e-mail interview.
Community-oriented music fest
While a lot of festivals book big name DJs to attract the punters, Earthfest has taken the opposite approach. They contact international acts that are close by and local DJs to see if they would like to be part of the event, which is community oriented.
Organizers keep costs to a minimum because they’ve enlisted the help of volunteers to set up the event site and run ticketing stations.
“We are a more grass roots electronic music festival that brings the music to a beautiful mountain ranch,” Alders said. “People can expect nature, good people, great food and an amazing journey.”
Earthfest was planned for late-October so as to avoid typhoon season. However, the weather this week, with a typhoon threatening southern Taiwan, has been a bit wonky, so the grounds have a high chance of being wet and muddy.
But this won’t stop people from coming, or dancing in front of the stages. Those planning to turn up to Earthfest with their tents should be prepared to enjoy the feeling of being covered in mud from head to toe.
■ Earthfest Revolutions (地球革命戶外電子音樂祭) is today from 7pm to Sunday at 1pm at the Yen Family Ranch (顏氏牧場), 28, Shushang Lane, Tao-mi Eco Village, Puli Township, Nantou County (埔里鎮桃米生態村水上巷28號). Admission is NT$2,600 and includes camping.
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