The Word - Ho Chi Minh City

There’s going to be a big party in District 2 on Saturday, Jun. 15. It’s going to be held on an island and there will be at least one industrial-strength foam machine. There will also be over 30 DJs playing music on two different stages from the early afternoon until late at night. The organisers, who are heavy-hitting veterans of the Saigon event promotion scene and know about these things, expect attendance to number in the thousands. Five to be precise. All signs point to the dOSe of Escape Music Festival being one of the biggest, craziest parties in the history of the city. The funny thing is, it would have never happened if it weren’t for complaining neighbours.

Jazz lovers brace yourself. As the festival season gathers apace, so the Southern states of the US are also catered for with cajun cuisine and a smorgasbord of jazz-based and jazz-related acts coming to Q4 on Saturday Jun. 1.

Beerfest Asia is just hitting its stride in its fifth edition, to be held from Jun. 13 to Jun. 16 in Singapore, a four-day festival of the beer lifestyle and the other fun stuff that goes along with it.

Singapore’s absurd spoiled-for-choiceness continues with the Big Wig Music Festival on Apr. 6, a funky jamboree of hip-hop greats such as Pharoahe Monche and The Bizarre Ride with PHARCYDE, turntablism courtesy of the likes of Jazzy Jay and world champ DJ Vajra, local jams from Wicked Aura and the Pushin’On Crew and assorted festival antics in the breakdancing and graffiti realms.

If you frequent certain pubs around football match times, you might be tricked into taking this festival’s name literally. But Q4’s upcoming Loud Minority Festival isn’t about regionalistic boasts — it’s about uniting traditions, drawing attention to some local children’s shelters while they’re at it.