What Went Down: Hotlink All Access & JUICE: ZoukOut 2013 (Day 2) @ Siloso Beach, Sentosa, Singapore

By Roy Batty  •  06 Jan 2014 in Reports

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The headlines are in, ZoukOut 2013 attracted the largest turnout ever (a reported 41,000 attendees) since its inception a decade ago. JUICE and Hotlink, in our altruistic efforts to give you less privileged partygoers an experience of the lifetime, made sure that at least 13 of our readers and subscribers were part of the revelry at the beachside festival. Better still, not only that they were allowed to bring 1 partner, we also wanted them to feel like a goddamned boss without having to pay a single cent – we covered all the expenses of transportation, accommodation, and tickets for each winner and their respective partner!

That wasn’t quite boss level though, so we upped the ante; they were given an allowance of SGD250 each along with RM200 worth of Rip Curl vouchers. The latter being exactly what they were made to do before the long bus trip to Singapore – all 13 winners had a stopover at Rip Curl 1 Utama at 9.30am for a quick shopping sesh. You’d think they were groggy at that hour, but the prospect of free clothes meant everyone showed up even earlier than scheduled.

We knew that a 4 to 5 hour trip would be soul sucking enough that it’s going to translate to your outward looks, and that won’t be so boss now, would it? Well, we thought of everything. Once we reached Singapore and after everyone has settled into their respective hotel rooms, they can choose to get their hair and makeup done by professional hairdressers and makeup artists we specifically booked for the event. Suffice to say, even the boys took the chance of having their looks done by pros (hey, some of us gotta compensate for our lack of beach body).

Despite having had just a 3-hour break before making a move to Sentosa Beach Resort, the winners, rocking their Rip Curl gear, were already beyond pumped up – from using their allowance on pre-drinks, we bet – on the bus. Once at the venue, it was out of control, everyone went their respective ways in their own groups. Luckily for us they were identifiable by the lanyards given to them. As we scoured the beach side during the 12-hour festival (it ended at 8am!), we bumped into our winners getting their rave on to the house tunes of Alesso, the Dutch trance of Dash Berlin, and EDM pop hits of Zedd among other dance genres. As for us? We were content to stick around at the localised tent bumping to the bassy, alternative tunes of the likes of Gema and A/K/A.

As the crowd dissipated and the morning sun rose, we rounded up the gang and asked them what they had to say about the experience:

“Oh man, thank you Hotlink and JUICE. Now I can proudly brag to my friends that not only I lasted 12 hours at ZoukOut, I was also given the VIP experience. Been planning to go for ages now and just never got the chance, I didn’t even think I’d win the competition!”

“Free tickets to ZoukOut for myself and my friend are one thing, but I didn’t think you guys would give us SGD250 each and beauty services as well. Let’s just say that aided in someone getting lucky.”

“Sure, we have our own EDM festivals in Kuala Lumpur, but other than the less than legal ones, do we have one that lasted all the way to 8 in the friggin’ morning?! Hell, even the big acts like Alesso and Dash Berlin played way into the early morning and I was awake throughout it all.”

“I think I might have passed out by 5am, thank lord you guys found me and brought me to the bus. Also, dang, was the hotel room swanky or what? I’d choose to miss the bus and slept there for another day had I had the money, haha.”

“This was actually my 5th year at ZoukOut, and it was also the best. Great acts, free tickets, free clothes, expenses covered, allowance give, and a proper hotel room instead of a backpacker one, what’s not to love?”

Hotlink All Access in partnership with JUICE is an initiative to bring subscribers and readers alike to the best parties around town, and in this case, outside Kuala Lumpur. For more images of the event, click here.