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An outdoor music festival in the New Territories is breaking the local dance mould, writes Tina Lee

First they brought us Tiesto, one of the biggest DJ events of the year. Now promoter Croxxover is turning it up a notch with a massive outdoor bash, the suitably titled Summer Love Music Festival. Scheduled smack bang in the middle of summer, the late-night, open-air bash promises something bigger and better than what most Hong Kong clubbers are used to.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect: a wicked DJ lineup, a bikini show, ‘The Best Party Girl’ competition (which has nothing to do with partying, and everything to do with who looks the hottest in a Polaroid picture), and a whole lotta space. Organiser Reeve Tsui is stoked about bringing another big production to town. “There aren’t many outdoor events in Hong Kong and that is why we are doing the festival, to bring different people and different cultures together,” says Tsui.

The event will be held at River Trade Golf, a 150,000-square-foot outdoor driving range in the New Territories, with international acts Plump DJs (UK), Hyper (UK) and DJ Orange (Taiwan), and support from Hong Kong DJs Joe Chan, Ryan Li, and Bomb. Croxxover specifically chose hometown DJs they felt would rock the space best, with the addition of three major international acts headlining the bill.

Make no mistake; London’s Plump DJs are the real deal. The DJ-and-producer team of Lee Rous and Andy Gardner has been making waves in the UK’s dance scene since 1999, with their release of single Plump Chunks/Electric Disco on Finger Lickin’ Records. Almost a decade later, they have residencies at uber-club Fabric and multiple mix CDs and albums under their belt; they’ve also just been named Best Breakbeat Artist at the inaugural Beatport Music Awards.

Hyper also has big-time dance cred, having done remixes for the likes of Paul Van Dyk and BT and toured with The Crystal Method. He has rocked crowds at Glastonbury, Japan’s Fuji Rock and Serbia’s Exit Festival – a set he considers one of the best of his career. When we gave him a call, however, he was oblivious to the fact that he was playing at a festival in Hong Kong. “I’m playing at a festival? Where is it? I had no idea,” he said down the phone. “I’ve played at the HITEC, but this is really good for Hong Kong.”

Despite his apparent cluelessness as to the party's location, Hyper promises to hit the crowd with what he calls, “Digital punk that sounds a lot like a combination of break beats and Ed Banger tracks.” It’s frenetic stuff, with heavy-hitting beats and a veritable arcade of aggressive glitches and siren-like wails – sure to go down a treat with buzzing crowd.

The third headliner, DJ Orange – aka Taiwanese artiste Chang Chen-yue, also known as A-Yue – is no small fry himself. He’s played numerous Chinese rock festivals, and is also lead singer of a band called Free Night. He’s an actor with numerous film credits to his name, and he’s even dabbled in hip-hop, having collaborated with Taiwanese rapper MC Hot Dog for the track Wo Ai Tai Mei (I Love Taiwanese Girls). He’ll mix it up here with Taiwanese rock-infused electronic music. Expect to hear a lot of break beats, electro, techno, and trance, but also be prepared for a crazy night of loud pumping tracks with nowhere to go.

And therein lies what is perhaps a golden strategy on the part of the organizers: set up a festival in a far-off corner of Hong Kong where clubbers will have to take a shuttle bus to get to the event – where they’ll have no option other than to stay and dance until the early morning – and you eliminate the transient club-hopping element that party-goers are all too used to.

And fair game to them. Croxxover stand alone as a progenitor of large-scale clubbing events in the SAR, and they are at least pushing party-goers out of their comfort zones. While their shows may be far-flung, at least they’re flung in the first place. Let’s hope they keep it up. Watch this space – or large, grassy ones in the New Territories – for more. We’re going, you should, too.

Summer Love Music Festival 2008, Saturday 12, 9pm-late, River Trade Golf, Area 46 Junction of Mong Fat Street and Lung Mun Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories. $680, $480 (early-bird). Tickets on sale at HMV, or call 9048 2374 (Chinese) or 6704 7221 (English).

* Shuttle buses run from Tsim Sha Tsui to the venue and back, from Hong Hau Road, right next to the Peninsula Hotel. The trip takes 30 minutes and runs from 9pm to 5am.