Review: How Half Moon Festival redefines Koh Phangan

When I was eighteen, I—like possibly many others—found myself at Thailand’s infamous Full Moon Party. I was told stories of the biggest, wildest, and most infamous party I’d have ever attended, but rather was met with rowdy teens, trash everywhere and no ounce of shame to be seen anywhere.

I left Koh Phangan within 24 hours of getting there and promised myself I would never return to the island. That was my first mistake.

I’d heard about the Half Moon Festival, but I assumed it was just another version of the same chaotic mess. Same organisers, same music, same crowd—same old, same old…turns out, I was dead wrong.

Even now, when I talk to people—locals included—they’re surprised to learn that Half Moon is a completely different entity, with its own unique music, audience and overall vibe. After spending a weekend there, I can confidently say it’s a damn shame more people don’t know the difference.

At first, I thought Koh Phangan was just a magnet for gap-year backpackers—kids looking to drink buckets, eat mushrooms that definitely don’t have any psilocybin in them, and then bounce. That’s certainly what I, and many other backpackers, did. However, that was yet another mistake.

Koh Phangan is a strange one, as although it’s very well known, it’s also still very underrated (by people like myself two months ago).

Yes, it does have that gap-year vibe if that’s what you’re after, and they do have that in plenty. Eyesore billboards scatter the pristine beauty that Koh Phangan offers, showing EDM icons and men with man buns and tribal tattoos everywhere you look.

If that’s your kind of thing Koh Phangan is a haven for you. But, this is far from all the place has to offer.

After flying in from Bangkok and getting the ferry across from Koh Samui, I was invited to have dinner at Harmony Beach Club with a bunch of the DJs, crew members and the festival’s owner, Jao, who’s one of the most interesting men I’ve met in a minute.

Jao grew up on Koh Phangan and shared stories of the island's humble roots, where the only jobs were fishing and coconut farming. His love for music led him to start hosting yearly free parties, funded out of his own pocket, long before Koh Phangan became the international party destination it is today.

He reminisced about the early days—when it was just him, his friends, and a handful of local ravers, enjoying music for the pure love of it. No money involved, no big headliners, no marketing, no tourism, with everyone raving for the right reasons with its beauty lying in its simplicity.

From the early days with their simple JBL setup, every single year since its beginning the island has grown and grown until the monster that it is today. Today, it’s a fully-fledged, international standard festival, far from the beach bar chaos that I had pictured.

Naturally, the conversation turned to the Full Moon Party. I wanted to know how the two events compared, assuming that they were the same, just different names to cash in. But Jao quickly set me straight.

If Full Moon is the trashy rite of passage for backpackers, Half Moon is the event where you go to actually enjoy what the island has to offer when you have an understanding of good festivals and events.

Jao is diplomatic when talking about Full Moon, but it’s clear he wants to distinguish Half Moon as something entirely different.

Full Moon caters to younger, less experienced ravers, while Half Moon is carefully curated to provide an experience to remember, with production standards on par with some European festivals.

And I have to agree—the setup was as professional and polished as many large-scale international events I’ve attended.

To the actual events now…

Half Moon is split into two events: the pre-party on Thursday and the main event on Friday. The pre-party is a more laid-back and somewhat civilised affair. Harmony Beach Club provides the perfect backdrop for the day’s festivities, situated right on one of the most idyllic beaches I’ve been to in the Thai islands, with infrastructure designed to blend in and complement the surrounding nature.

There are market stalls, food stands, paddle boards, jacuzzis, games and much more on display to enjoy the atmosphere.

Read this next: Yum Cha Chats: Mendy Indigo adds a taste of Thailand to your kitchen with 5 Thai classic recipes

Music-wise, it starts with classy house, often with an afro touch, and gradually shifts to more progressive, melodic sounds as the picture-perfect sun sets in a blaze of purples, oranges, and reds as you sip on exotic, but reasonably priced cocktails out of coconuts.

The crowd was another pleasant surprise. While there are still a few of the wrong kind of backpackers, 90% of the attendees seemed to be there for the right reasons—the energy, the vibe, the music. The people scouted out this event to go to, rather than seeing the neon glowsticks and stumbling into the chaos of Full Moon.

Maybe it's the other way round and Half Moon provided a more mature backdrop which in turn changes the atmosphere, but who knows.

At 1am the pre-party wraps up, with the organisers intentionally keeping things low-key late at night to save everyone’s energy for the next one. There were various afters occuring around the island of course, but nothing caught my eye so I bounded home to hang with some locals I had met.

The main event itself kicks off around 10 pm the Friday. I woke up in the morning and had flashbacks of the shitshow of a time I had at Full Moon Party, and although I knew it was different organisers and location, my preconceptions got the better of me and I was apprehensive. But, once again, I was proven wrong.

I spent the day Googling the headliners. Despite drinking with them all the night before and getting on well with them, I hadn’t really checked out their music. Maybe out of fear as to not sully how I see my new mates and fear of them being ‘full moon’ DJs, but they’re big names. Bigger than I was expecting.

The go-to’s for the festival are heavy hitters like Ranji, Blastoyz, Weekend Heroes, Silver Panda, Neelix, Terra, WHITE NO1SE on the Half Moon Festival roster. Big, big names in this scene, which I quickly read up and learnt about so as to not feel imposter syndrome and embarrass myself later when on stage.

Read this next: How Thantawan Festival strives to empower Chiang Mai's local communities

We piled into the back of a truck with the organisers and a couple of the night’s headliners, cocktails in hand, and made our way across Koh Phangan. The site is hidden at the bottom of a jungle valley—a smart move by Jao that keeps the event discreet and free from the usual hassles with cops and neighbours.

Even driving up to it you couldn’t hear any sound spillage, which only added to the anticipation of the unknown.

Thailand’s stringent laws mean venues and events are (usually) required to shut at 3am; something the islands seem to not enforce with quite as much severity, and with this site being so ideally located, it’s a genius move from Jao that many others have copied since.

Jao mentioned that in the early days, the cops were all over them, but over time, they’ve come to respect the festival’s vibe and leave it alone now they know it poses no threat, leaving them to party until the dawn breaks.

As we entered through the back, the first thing that struck me was the infrastructure. Deep in the forest, it felt like a natural extension of the landscape—grand wooden skylines towering above the ground, artistic sculptures of light-up trees, simple yet effective structures, huts and stalls all blending seamlessly with the surroundings. Imagine a scaled-down Tomorrowland, but designed to complement Koh Phangan’s natural beauty.

Now, there's something I need to say to preface all of this. I’m not a fan of progressive, melodic and psytrance music. I usually find it over the top, tacky and just trying too hard. There are moments and certain aspects I can get behind, but for the most part, it’s not my cup of tea. So when I say I was actually enjoying the sounds and styles from both the pre-party and the festival itself, that is high, high praise.

Read this next: On queer futurity through rave collectives in Southeast Asia

The expansive site features three main stages. Cave Stage (Hip hop/Afro), G Floor stage (House) and Prime Stage (Psy/Melodic).

The Cave Stage feels like a forgotten WW2 bunker that the festival stumbled upon (in the best way). It seemed like the one people had the most fun in. The music seemed to not take itself too seriously, and the room was packed full of ravers, most of which were beaming ear to ear as they listened to solid (sometimes cheesy) afro and hip hop.

The G Floor house stage, which, while leaning more on the commercial side, still offered some great music whilst looking visually stunning. Fire dancers and that kind of thing are usually done in poor taste, but it fit in so seamlessly here, complementing the architecture of the booming semi-dome. This one was easily my personal favourite of the three, the music was as close to my taste as we got, it was right next to a bar, and it felt the most realised.

Then there’s the crown jewel—the ‘prime’ stage, which is a behemoth.

Giant skywalks towering above the trees provide a full 360-degree view of the stage (for VIPs). A slew of cascading lights struck the perfect balance between presence and subtlety. It never felt headache-inducing or too tacky, a hard feat to get right.

The sound system is top-tier, and the stage design is meticulous, with tiny details all culminating in an experience that could go toe-to-toe with some of the finest stages I’ve attended.

It did help that Jao kindly gave us access to the open bar for artists on the main stage, but we don’t need to talk about that. Maybe this opened my ears up, who knows, but I was having a great time.

Read this next: Turn up the wind-down: slumber tips for night owls

Surrounding the main stage lies the VIP skywalk, which, if I was paying, would splash out for. The views of the main stage are electric, with a full circle surrounding the area ensuring it’s never too overcrowded if you’re after a bit of downtime.

If you’re into psy, melodic, or progressive sounds and you find yourself in Asia, this is a must-attend night. And even though it leans into this sound more I’d have liked, the music was still (for the most part) very solid. There was rarely a moment that I felt bored or strongly against what I was listening to, something I’ve found quite frequently at other events focused around psy and melodic.

And even if you’re not crazy about the style, it’s worth experiencing the magic that the organisers pull off every fortnight. My thinking was “When in Rome”, and this served me incredibly well throughout the night.

Setting aside preconceived snobbishness and taste and letting the festival give me all it had to offer was the best thing I could have done. It made me rethink my musical taste that I was certain of before, and moving forward making me more open and accepting of styles I previously wasn’t enamoured with.

I still find it baffling that the team pulls this off every two weeks. It made me think about festivals that often struggle with hosting once a year. Of course, it's a huge head start that the festival site is permanent, but the line-ups, the promos, the marketing all chops and changes. I didn’t even attend a special ‘must go’ event, just a typical one, which makes this even more impressive.

Read this next: Meet Siam Modular, Thailand's first modular synthesizer company

It is easier when a large pool of your audience are backpackers that want to rave, but that is not to say it’s not wildly impressive what Jao and his team have built over the years, and continue to add to with even bigger plans moving forward. The plans for expansion and growth seem to always be on their mind, although they seem to have cracked the formula to ongoing success and constant attendees.

We closed out the night after many libations, surrounded by a stunning sunrise, half-moon logos on fire and thousands of ravers still smiling, but just a little less fresh than when they walked in.

After watching the sunrise and calling it a night, I woke up and immediately went to this ice bath holistic type retreat a friend recommended me to.

Whilst suffering and attempting to regenerate my serotonin and sense of identity in said bath, it made me wonder about the spiritual side of the island and the part it plays in events.

Speaking to locals and other party-goers, many attribute Koh Phangan’s unique energy to the island’s rich history of spirituality. The island is draped in a mystique of holistic practices—sound baths, yoga classes, guided meditations, and more, in turn populates the island with conscious-minded people wherever you step. This spiritual vibe seems to permeate everything, including the island’s festivals.

Many believe that the energy present during the half-moon phase—a time of increased light, renewal, and fertility—adds to the festival’s allure. To be honest, I’ve never been one to buy into that kind of thing, but after my time there, I’m eager to return and see if I can tap into whatever it is that so many others have found. Not holding my breath, but I’m open to try and find a glimpse of what so many hold near and dear.

This isn’t solely in Koh Phangan either. Two of the world's allegedly most celebrated party islands—Bali and Ibiza—are, at their core, incredibly spiritual. Although Koh Phangan isn’t, in many ways, on the same level as the Ibizas of the world, they share many similarities in their way of practice. The ethos of care and respect for nature and the unseen is palpable.

Read this next: Maarten Goetheer's Poy-Sian edits is an ode to Thailand's folk music culture

I don’t really have the answer to why spirituality plays such a key part in partying or even know how much I believe it, but after speaking to many people who are more enlightened than I who believe it’s a core tenet of it, it’s hard to disagree with the sentiment. Think it’s one I’ve got to return to and find out for myself. And even if that isn’t the main reason I’m eager to return, the island now has its claws deep in me.

Even though I was there for five days, got hit by a car (not my fault), spent a day in a cop station (not my fault), got a pair of shoes stolen (not my fault), and got caught in thunderstorms (definitely my fault), Koh Phangan had such a pull that I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

To sum this all off, don’t write off Koh Phangan or its Half-Moon events like I did for so many years.

I’m forever grateful I gave it another chance and got to experience the beauty of the island—and the mystical festival that stands well apart from its neon-glowstick-filled, teen-riddled sibling that is the Full Moon Party.

Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.

Cut through the noise—sign up for our weekly Scene Report or follow us on Instagram to get the latest from Asia and the Asian diaspora!