Electronic music fest coming to Shanghai
LEADING electronic music festival Ultra announced an expansion to China’s mainland and India early this month, sensing a bright future for the booming genre.
Ultra Music Festival, launched in 1999 in Miami when electronic dance music was beginning to find mass audiences in the West, also plans to head to Australia, which will bring the party to six continents.
The September 9-10 edition in Shanghai marks the first entry of an international music festival into China’s mainland, which has a number of homegrown events that have drawn global talent.
Russell Faibisch, Ultra’s president, CEO and executive producer, said he has been spending time in China since 2012 and sensed a strong appetite for electronic dance music.
“There is no other genre like electronic music now, or ever, in the history of music,” Faibisch said. “It’s the one genre that brings everyone together no matter what country you’re in, what language you speak.”
Ultra will come to India in September in New Delhi with a second edition set for February 2018 in Mumbai. The Indian events for now will be “Road to Ultra” shows which have single rather than multiple stages.
Electronic music revelers, often decked out in extravagant outfits for hours of sweaty dancing, have increasingly crossed borders. Ultra’s flagship event in Miami last month drew 165,000 people from more than 60 countries, according to organizers.
Faibisch, who said Ultra tailored each event to local musical preferences, witnessed growth potential in Asia by seeing so many fans travel within the region.
Elsewhere in Asia, Ultra has editions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
“I think the artists really love going and playing there because the fans are so enthusiastic about it,” Faibisch said of Asia.
“Their energy is very high, maybe because it’s something that’s newer in that region.”
China and India used to be relative backwaters for Western concert promoters but they have seen musical tastes shaped by the streaming revolution with fans enjoying access to DJs who once seemed remote.