Some clever promoters have figured what to do if the authorities in Singapore won't let them hold an EDM festival on land...they'll have it at sea instead. Shipsomnia is the most recent in a slew of electronic music events taking place on cruise ships. The boat will launch from the small Asian nation during January of 2016, assuming the government doesn't reach deep into maritime law to prevent it from doing so.
Singapore, despite having hosted EDM-based events in the past, has gotten a black eye—at least among promoters—after it forced the Future Music Festival to cancel its 2015 festivities earlier this year. Acts such as Avicii, Afrojack, Fatboy Slim and The Prodigy were scheduled to play but the local government failed to grant Livescape a public entertainment license (although the company had apparently prepared for and surpassed all of the security and medical codes in place).
The police force denied permission twice in the lead-up to the event, forcing the eventual cancellation. It seems odd that promoters would look to Singapore to host such events at all, considering the nation's draconically strict drug policy, which would put those in possession of MDMA in prison for years, and even life.
That's not to say there isn't a demand for EDM music in the nation however, a fan base that Singapore-based promoter Mad Fresh Events is trying to appeal to.
The cruise will reportedly run on a $2.5 million budget, not enough to bring in guns the size of those featured at Future Music, but enough for 30 DJs (none of which have been named yet of course). The theme will reportedly be steampunk.
The ship will leave from Singapore and head to Thailand and Malaysia for four nights before returning to port.
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