Good Vibes Festival

2010s

Good Vibes Festival was first organized as a multi-artist concert on 13 August 2013 at the Sepang International Circuit,^[1] with a line-up of acts like The Smashing Pumpkins and Modest Mouse.^[2] In 2014, the festival was extended as a two-day event, with Ellie Goulding and Empire of the Sun as the main act.^[3] The festival did not take place in 2015, and starting in 2016 and the subsequent edition, GVF was held in Genting Highlands.

2020s

GVF was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The festival was return in September 2022, and took place in Sunway Lagoon under the name Good Vibes Weekender, featuring Korean rapper, CL, and Hong Kong singer, Jackson Wang as the main act.^[4]

The festival's 2023 edition marks the 10th anniversary since the first edition and return to took place at the festival's early edition venue, the Sepang International Circuit, first edition with three-day event, featuring lineup of acts: The 1975, The Kid Laroi and The Strokes, alongside other artists.^[5] The also gained attention due to the increase in ticket prices to become the most expensive in the history of the organization.^[6] The 1975's frontman as well as the rest of the band was banned from Malaysia 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.^[7] Healy stated that he "made 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 government'".^[8][9] 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".^[10][11] Human rights and LGBT activist Peter Tatchell, writing for The Guardian wrote that criticism of Healy and the band "deflect attention from where the criticisms should be most urgently directed: against the homophobia of the Kuala Lumpur 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".^[12] Reactions to the incident from Malaysians on social media were generally critical of Healy.^[13] Some members of the LGBT community in Malaysia were frustrated by the incident and expressed concern it would lead to further reprisals from the religious right.^{[14][13][15][16]}

• Official website