Good Vibes Festival (GVF) is an annual music festival held in Malaysia. Organized by Future Sound Asia, the first edition was held on August 13, 2013, later held over two days from 2016.

History

2010s

Good Vibes Festival was first organized as a multi-artist concert on 13 August 2013 at the Sepang International Circuit, with a line-up of acts like

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

and

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...

. In 2014, the festival was extended as a two-day event, with

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer, songwriter, and activist. Born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, Goulding began writing songs at the age of 15. She released her debut single " Under the Sheets" through ...

and Empire of the Sun as the main act. The festival did not take place in 2015, and starting in 2016 and the subsequent edition, GVF was held in

Genting Highlands Genting Highlands is a hill station located on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali in the Titiwangsa Mountains, central Peninsular Malaysia, at 1800 metres elevation. Located in the state of Pahang, it was established in 1965 by the late Malaysian busi ...

2020s

GVF was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The festival returned in September 2022 and took place in

Sunway Lagoon Sunway Lagoon is an amusement park in Bandar Sunway, Sunway City, Selangor, Malaysia. Owned by the Sunway Group, it officially opened on 29 April 1993. History & Timeline The park began operating in 24th of October 1992 (soft-opened) and was ...

under the name Good Vibes Weekender, featuring Korean rapper CL and Hong Kong singer

Jackson Wang Jackson Wang ( zh, t=王嘉爾, s=王嘉尔; born Wang Ka-yee; 28 March 1994) is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, and songwriter. After a career as a competitive fencer, he joined the South Korean boy band Got7, which debuted under JYP Entertainm ...

as the main acts. The festival's 2023 edition marked the 10th anniversary since the first edition and return to the festival's early edition venue, the Sepang International Circuit, first edition with three-day event, featuring lineup of acts:

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...

The Kid Laroi Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...

and

The Strokes The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...

, alongside other artists. The also gained attention due to the increase in ticket prices to become the most expensive in the history of the organization. The 1975's frontman Matt Healy as well as the rest of the band were banned from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and forced by the authorities to prematurely end their performance at the festival after he criticised the country's widespread anti-LGBTQ+ laws and kissed bandmate Ross MacDonald. Healy stated that the band's decision to appear in Malaysia had been a "mistake". "When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it. ..So I pulled the show yesterday and we had a conversation, we said 'you know what, we can't let the kids down because they're not the problem'". The organisers subsequently cancelled the rest of the three-day festival, on government orders, citing that Healy's "controversial conduct and remarks" are "against the traditions and values of the local culture". Human rights and LGBT activist

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that criticism of Healy and the band "deflect attention from where the criticisms should be most urgently directed: against the

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

of the

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

regime." He also expressed that Healy is no white saviour for showing solidarity to the community as "queer rights are a universal human right, not a western one". Reactions to the incident from Malaysians on social media were generally critical of Healy. Some members of the

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

in Malaysia were frustrated by the incident and expressed concern it would lead to further reprisals from the religious right. The 2024 edition was cancelled due to the Installation of Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVII.

Lineup

Notes

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.goodvibesfestival.com/ 2013 establishments in Malaysia Annual events in Malaysia Music festivals in Malaysia Music festivals established in 2013 2023 controversies Controversies in Malaysia