All Flaked Out In Bangkok – Bangkok Winter Music Festival

No matter how hot it gets on Saturday, fans will find snow at the Winter Music Festival ;If you’re going to Saturday’s Bangkok Winter Music Festival, take a parka or jacket. Maybe even mittens or gloves. Organiser New Inter Classic Exhibition (Nice) is predicting snow – at least during the ballads.

“We’ll have 20 snow-making machines producing flakes and blowing them into the air during the slow songs,” says Somsak Malang, managing director of Nice, which up until now has organised events for the real-estate sector.

“The global downturn continues to have a negative impact on real estate,” says Somsak, who’s been organising events for 16 years and is enthusiastic about his debut on the entertainment scene.

“There are lots of music festivals outside Bangkok during the winter but many city folks can’t go to them because they don’t have the money to pay for travel and accommodation on top of the expensive tickets. “I’d like this to be an annual event, just like the Pattaya Music Festival.”

Saturday’s festival has a concept that involves the number nine: It runs for nine hours and features nine artists – Palmy, Moderndog, Groove Riders, ETC, Friday, Flure, Zeal, Lipta and Paradox. Proceeds, after expenses, will go to nine charities – the Foundation for Rural Youth, the Thammarak Foundation for HIV Children of Wat Phrabat Nampu, Ban Kru Noi, the Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, the Sataban Saengsawang Foundation, Friends of the Asian Elephant, the Foundation for Stray Dogs, the Children Cancer Fund, and the National Sports Development Fund of Sports Authority of Thailand.

“Each artist will be on stage for 40 to 45 minutes rather than just two or three songs as at other festivals,” he says.

The 39-year-old exec has invested Bt25 million in his first showbiz project, of which more than Bt10 million is for the stage production. Bt3 million is earmarked to pay the artists and the remainder ifor promotion.

Leo Sound System, which worked on the Honda Winter Fest, is handling the production. The stage is 25-metres wide and 80-metres long with one 12-metre catwalk at the centre. A large centre LED screen two smaller ones on each side will ensure everyone gets a look at the performers.

“And, of course, there’s the snow. It’s only a gimmick but I want it to be talk of the town,” he explains.

Surprisingly, Nice’s first project has not picked up any sponsors, so the company will be picking up the entire tab.

“That’s because we were really late concluding the project and sponsors had already closed the accounts for the 2009 budget year. Our tardiness was due to the selection of artists and the venue,” he says.

The festival is expected to draw a crowd of 40,000 people. Some 450 policemen will be on duty inside the stadium and an as yet undisclosed number outside.

WHITE NOISE

The Bangkok Winter Music Festival is at the Rajamangkala National Stadium in Hua Mark on Saturday from 5pm to 1am. Tickets are Bt300 to Bt2,000 at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

with thanks to : NATION