Thailand Festivals and Events 2012

That mountain is big, and the festival is choreographed to match the bigness, the sheer size and dimension, of its namesake. The first time it pulled off a sizzling buzz, thanks partly to the bare torso of a certain muscular singer, so to strike the iron while it's still hot, the second edition follows 10 months after the debut, and we're in again for the Siamese equivalent (sort of) of Glastonbury-slash-Woodstock-slash-dance pageant-slash-temple fair - all in the wintry shadows of that big mountain, Khao Yai.

This is a preview, so we can only speculate and promote. Yet judging from the February review in the Bangkok Post, the first Big Mountain Music Festival was a sensation, a seething, rocking rally of 25,000 fans and several dozen performers. Ostensibly bankrolled by GMM Grammy, the debuting festival showed generosity by having artists from other labels on its roll call, transcending business barriers in the name of good fun. The Big Mountain Music Festival 2 - BMMF2, a two-day-two-night bash on Dec 10 to late Dec 11 - has been coordinated to trump the first and establish itself as the music jamboree of this nation.

The impresario-in-chief of this venture is Yuthana Boon-om, well-known for his flowing ideas of pop-gimmickry and indie music culture. Yuthana explains BMMF2 with three key mores: more fun, more convenient, and more cool.

He says: "More fun, because we'll add more artists to the list. There will be over 100 bands playing at the festival, including a number of international artists. More convenient, because we'll have two bus lanes running among different stages to improve the traffic for revellers. We'll have a refreshing zone offering Thai massages for those who've worked themselves too hard on the dancefloor - and yes, we'll add 600 toilets to serve festival-goers.

"And, finally, we'll make BMMF2 cooler than the first," Yuthana continues. "There will now be nine ferris wheels instead of one. We've upped the creativity of stage design to make them unique, and we'll add a new stage, called Durian, which is something you've never see before. We'll also reconstruct Siam Theatre and screen all-night horror films in there, and there'll be many other things."

It'd take pages to list them all, but roughly BMMF2 will serve up big names as well as indie upcomers such as (please forgive us if we leave somebody out) Bodyslam, Apartmentkhunpha, Slot Machine, Crescendo, Scrubb, Paradox, Clash, Flure, T Bone, Singular, Da Endorphine, Hydra, Armchair, DJ Suharit, P.O.P, 25 Hours - plus artists from France (Fugu, Clementine), Japan (Aonami, Low Fat) and Malaysia (Lightcraft, Plague of Happiness). It's simply impossible to list them all here.

What the organisers seem to be so proud of is the design and construction of the six big stages dotted around the foot of Khao Yai. Each stage has a theme that corresponds to the artists who will perform on it. For instance, the new Durian stage is reserved for hip electronic music; the District 9 stage features lively-crazy music; Dancing Tree is, sure, for dance music and top-flight DJs; Pub Akojorn (the "Pun of Vice") is for new indie bands; while all the "headline acts" and big names will parade on the main stage and Cow stage.

And don't worry about food and drinks. "We will host a khai jiew competition in the festival; we call it Khai Jiew City," says Yuthana. "Our outdoor market, called Talad Phakao Ma, will be extended to the length of 250 metres and it will stay open 24 hours a day during the festival."

In short, for two days and nights, BMMF2 will transform a section of Khao Yai into a living, throbbing, self-contained city (with its own waste management plan) whose religion is music, dancing and all-night fun. We gave BMMF a glowing review the first time, and hopefully we'll have even better things to say about it after next weekend.

Tickets: http://www.thaiticketmajor.com/concert/big-mountain-music-fest-2-eng.php

- Bangkok Post