Good vibes at Vibrations Festival at The Slate Phuket, Thailand

GOOD VIBES RETURN FOR brings a taste of reggae and revelry to Phuket’s coolest resort.

I love my life and the invitations in Little Wandering Wren’s inbox. I flew back to Phuket with 90 minutes to spare. This weekend, I could not miss the best invitation in Southern Thailand: VIBRATIONS FESTIVAL Rasta Jambalaya at The Slate, my favourite out-of-the-ordinary hotel in Phuket.

Everything about The Slate oozes sophisticated dreamscape escapism, so I’m intrigued to know how they party!

Vibrations Festival 2

You know, I know a good music festival well. The Slate Phuket Vibrations Festival was an altogether more sophisticated event. It was quite the harmonious blend of world-class music with exotic charm done in The Slate way!

Setting the Scene

Picture this: the Slate Phuket Vibrations Festival takes place on the Coliseum lawn. We arrive in a golf cart that magically appears at reception to whisk us there. I’m happy about the cooling breeze from nearby Nai Yang beach, as Thailand’s currently stinking hot! It’s time to kick off those shoes and feel the cooling grass.

There, under the arms of a towering tree, the stage has a catwalk promenade. Colourful lights and lasers flicker as the sun sets behind the swaying palms. It’s a perfect setting for a festival extravaganza.

The Lineup: A Melodic Journey

One of the highlights of The Slate Phuket Vibrations Festival was undoubtedly its diverse lineup. The headline act is Job2Do, Thailand’s most successful Reggae band. It is quite a coup to have the kings of Thai reggae amongst us.

As with all things at The Slate, Vibrations 2 is an eclectic mix. From body painting by visual artist Trey Hurst, fashion shows by renowned designer Eric Raisina and Gender-fluid fashion from THIS IS FRED with models from The Slate family, including a dramatic fire show. In a ‘this is Thailand’ moment, a special tent offers joints for more free-spirited revellers to get them in the mood. The event concluded with dancing under the stars to DJ Marcos.

Vibrations Food

We were happy to see the Vibrations feast was directed by Chef Piak, guardian of the famous Black Ginger Restaurant. She greets us with a smile and remembers us from our previous visits. The Slate is always like this: you are not just a guest. You are remembered.

We spend several trips to and from the extensive buffets, where we find an Isaan feast including grilled pork, sticky rice, som tum, and Asian Jambalaya grilled street food. Mr Wren returns many times for the Isaan sausage, his particular favourite.

A waiter does the rounds and arrives at our table with our drink requests.

Rasta Jambalaya immersion

Rasta Jambalaya is an inspired party theme that combines the chill of Rasta culture with the joy of Jambalaya to create a colourful celebration with an Asian twist. It was such a good night. We loved the chill vibe, and as the original Bob Marley song says ‘Let’s get together and feel alright’! For us, without a doubt, the festival highlight was the mellow reggae music of Job2Do, but looking back, we loved it all. By the end of the evening, it wasn’t just the palm trees that were swaying (and no, I hadn’t been into the special tent!)

I’m sure some of the Slate staff need a few days to recover from all the hard work involved in pulling off an event like this, or maybe they don’t; they seem to effortlessly roll from one dreamscape into the next! I hope there is a Vibrations Festival 3 and it becomes a regular on The Slate calendar.

Well done, Guys; it was epic.

The Slate Phuket

We love The Slate and have stayed twice. Designed by Bill Bensley, The Slate Phuket is the only hotel in Thailand to be named amongst TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Out of the Ordinary Hotels, a title given to only the top 1% of the 8 million hotels on the platform.

You can find The Slate Phuket Hotel Review here and my room tours via @littlewanderingwren Instagram: Room 3224 and our private pool villa stay.

Steeped in Phuket’s rich tin mining history, the hotel’s art-filled spaces provide the perfect backdrop for your imagination.

The details: 

More information is found on the website: www.theslatephuket.com

Disclosure: Little Wandering Wren was a guest of The Slate Phuket. Mega thanks for the invitation, we always love being back at The Slate Phuket.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out life at another all together different contemporary art and music festival: Everything Glitters at Glastonbury Festival.