Looking to escape the winter cold and venture to sunny destinations with plenty of quality electronic music?
We have compiled a list of 10 fantastic tropical winter music escapes, offering everything from techno to trance, and deep house to ambient.
Included are festivals and events in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, The Caribbean and more
Miami, Florida
Art Basel is a yearly art gathering that takes place very December in Miami, Florida. This year, Art Basel takes place from December 6th until the 9th, and will bring with it a series of accompanying techno, house and tech house events featuring some of the best acts in the world.
On Dec 6th 6AM is hosting Octopus Recordings’ Warehouse Series at SQL Miami, in the city’s Downtown area, with special guest Drumcell. Another notable event is Raskatella, which features Innervisions and Life and Death, but count on clubs throughout the city to be filled with quality music for the entire week.
Phuket, Thailand
Baba Beach Club Phuket is a private 5 star luxury hotel with a cool spa, beach activities, tropical design and lots of lush green vegetation. It’s decadent, hip and unpretentious, and built in a sleek Chino-Portuguese meets Shanghai Tang style, but despite the focus on luxury it also knows how to throw a party.
The line-up has so far seen names like Nicole Moudaber together with BE-AT.tv, Be Svendon, Maxxi Soundsystem, Shaded and Yokoo as well as collectives like Colours of Love, Neverest, and Die Empathie as well as Wonderfruit Decompression. The skies above the club are crystal clear and cloudless and as day turns to night it turns a wild mix of red, purple and blue and really takes the breath away. The sea is close by for a dip, and the whole place is generally regarded as one of the country’s most luxury hotels and a one of a kind place to party. The perfect winter getaway for music lovers.
Tulum, Mexico
28th Dec – 26th Jan 2019
The majestic Esto Es Tulum takes place in the ancient and beautiful Tulum, Mexico from December 28th to January 26th. Brands like Circo Loco, Do Not Sit On The Furniture, Muse, ANTS, Acid Sundays and many more, plus a host of international DJ names from the worlds of house, tech and techno will all be on hand to make this the perfect way to end one year and start the next.
Tulum is a beautiful mix of ancient Mayan cultures, with rich colours and textures, beautiful green-blue sea, warm sand beaches and hot sun guaranteed. It boasts thousands of luxury hotel rooms in the local area, all a few steps from the Caribbean sea. Stage designs are sympathetic to the local area with drift wood, woven basket and lush greenery all decorating each area and mesmeric lights and sound adding to the occasion. As well as this you can expect world class art and gastronomy next to the forward thinking soundtrack and 7000 like-minded people all partying in paradise. This is a place to free your mind with a crowd free from prejudice and all gathered together for one unstoppable experience.
Sydney, Australia
November 12th – 15th
EMC is the leading electronic music industry event in the Asia Pacific region. Held in Sydney for a week in November from the 12th, it is the annual destination event for Australian and international creative professionals, curators, influencers and tastemakers.
The week-long program includes a two-day conference program covering all facets of electronic music business and culture including keynotes, In Conversations, workshops, master classes, breakout sessions and networking events, plus EMCPLAY – five nights of after dark parties, club nights, film screenings and pop-ups. Across the parties and conference, the likes of Sasha, Gilles Peterson, Blond:Ish, Late Nite Tuff GuyandGreg Wilson as well as many more.
Itajaí, Brazil
November
One of the most famous in the world, this club is hidden in the jungle and accessible only by little paths and trails that lead from right into the Mata atlântica. It is built in an Indonesian style with a wooden, temple-like hut being the main room. It’s open at one end and when the sun rises and beams through the cracks it’s one of dance music’s most magical moments. Anyone is anyone plays here and the in-house label deals in quality deep house and techno.
Bangkok, Thailand
8th – 9th December
2018’s 808 Festival is set to be another essential event from 8th – 9th December at Live Park in Bangkok, Thailand and this year it brings the world famous A State of Trance brand to the region for the first time in a few years. Of course, the trance flag bearer Armin van Buuren heads up proceedings on day one of the festival with NWYR and Vini Vici, with global dance star Skrillex lining up on day two for his first and only show in South East Asia since his return from hiatus, with the likes of Thailand first timers REZZ, Troyboi and Whethan also playing.
Glenworth Valley (near Sydney), Australia
December 28 – January 1
Lost Paradise, the mind-blowing immersive festival experience held over New Year’s in the enchanted hinterland of Glenworth Valley, has announced its thrilling music line-up for 2018. PNAU, Bicep (live), KiNK (live) and Peggy Gou will join the likes of Bob Moses, SG Lewis, and Willaris. K for four epic days of music, wellness, food, art and cultural experiences, feeding the soul through revelry, connection and discovery.
Phu Quoc, Vietnam
December 31 – January 10
After two hugely successful editions, EPIZODE festival will return once more, bringing it’s game-changing musical and cinematic experience, where you are the central character.
Taking place on the island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam from December 28, 2018 – January 8, 2019, this year’s festival will play host to Apollonia, Mr. G (live), tINI, Sammy Dee, Dewalta, Red Axes, Fumiya Tanaka, and more.
These acts will join the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Nina Kraviz, Seth Troxler, Zip and Sonja Moonear for a series of day and night parties on painstakingly designed stages in a Vietnamese island paradise. Epizode’s tropical scenery makes it a festival site like no other, boasting white sandy beaches, lush jungle landscape and a myriad of enchanting art installations.
Costa Rica
Feb 28 – March 3
Envision is a four-day wellbeing and music festival held on a beach on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast with the rainforest as a dramatic backdrop. There’s a big focus on yoga: classes run all day in two ‘yoga temples’, with top teachers from around the world. Expect workshops on anything from permaculture to natural remedies and astrology, while music – across four stages – will be provided by local and international live acts and DJs. There are pre and post-festival tour options available too, to explore this beautiful, lush country.
Phase 1 lineup for the festival includes eclectic music from across the world with performances confirmed from: Lee Burridge, Bedouin, John Acquaviva, GRIZ, Sabo, Tycho, Nicola Cruz, Trevor Hall & many more.
St. Martin, The Caribbean
March 13 – 17
Set on the paradise island of Saint-Martin / Sint-Maarten, featuring the creme of international DJs and electronic music talent, SXM Festival prides it itself upon drawing the most discerning crowd of music lovers. A reaction to large, faceless festivals around the world, year one of SXM saw an influential group of dancefloor aficionados – who value and respect the scene’s history and culture – come together in beautiful surroundings to dance together and experience the joys of one of the Caribbean’s most fun and friendly locations.
