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Crowd dancing under lasers at a Half Moon party on Koh Phangan

Photo: Deiz (CC BY 2.5)

Halfmoon Festival expands to a two-day format (2024)

Source
  • August 2024
  • Harmony Beach Club and Magical Forest, Ban Tai
  • Festivals and culture Koh Phangan

By

In 2024 Halfmoon ran two-day parties every fortnight on Koh Phangan: a day party at Harmony Beach Club, then a night in the Magical Forest.

About this event

Halfmoon Festival was founded in 2002 by the DJs Jao Pattanasiri and Oren Mizrachi, as a less commercial alternative to the large beach parties on Koh Phangan. Jao had been running parties since 1999 through two venues, Harmony Club and Zoom Beach Club. The idea was to take the party off the beach and into the rainforest, with a more environmentally conscious attitude.

In 2024 Mixmag wrote that the festival was expanding, and the summer season placed events about two weeks apart. Wikipedia describes the festival as a two-day electronic music event with an attendance of 2,000 to 4,000. The Magical Forest is a green coconut garden turned into a party site, and the beach club day party is the other half of the format. The summer schedule in the sources runs from late June to late September.

The facts

  1. Mixmag reported that Halfmoon Festival ran for two days every fortnight on Koh Phangan, opening with a day party at Harmony Beach Club from 2pm to midnight.
  2. The main night moved to the Magical Forest in the Ban Tai jungle, from 9pm to sunrise, across three stages: Prime Stage, G Floor and The Cave.
  3. Silver Panda, Ghost Rider and Berg were among the named DJs, with around 80 DJs booked over a year.

Why it matters

Marked Halfmoon's expansion to a two-day, three-stage format that now runs through the year.

Line-up

Silver Panda, Ghost Rider, Berg

More nights like this

Festivals and culture on Koh Phangan

Most Phangan residents are Thai and many follow Buddhist traditions, so the festival calendar follows the lunar year. Songkran in mid-April brings water fights and ceremonies, and Loy Krathong on the November full moon is a night of floating lanterns and small baskets. Buddhist holy days also affect the island's nightlife: alcohol sales are restricted, and Full Moon Party dates can shift by a day. Temples worth a visit include Wat Phu Khao Noi, about 2 km from Thong Sala, and Wat Khao Tham in the hills above Ban Tai. Holy days move each year, so check dates close to travel.

Around Ban Tai

Ban Tai, or Baan Tai, is on Phangan's south coast, about a 10-minute drive south of Thong Sala according to one listing. It is the base for the island's forest parties: the Halfmoon Magic Forest is about ten minutes inland from the Ban Tai strip, and Jungle Experience and a weekly Friday jungle party also stage nights in the trees. On the beach, Ku Club is an open-air venue with resident performers. Wat Khao Tham, a hillside temple and meditation centre, overlooks the coast from above the village. Songthaew pick-ups serve the area.

Other dates of this event

From the history of Koh Phangan

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