Festival Review: Wonderfruit Festival 2022 Brings Back A Taste of Wonder after A Two-Year Hiatus

PUBLISHED December 31st, 2022 06:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:54 pm

On the last day of 2022, we remember the best part of December as we look to ringing in the new year. Having followed Wonderfruit Festival since it sprung up in 2014, we felt the hiatus of the Thai festival of art, music, food and ideas keenly over the past two year. This year, this driving force of Southeast Asia‘s festival circuit returned for four days of conscious living, cool weather parties, and plenty of new experiences. (Editor’s note: Wonderfruit has also announced dates for 2023, from 14 to 18 December!)

Structures for form and function

Tell me if you disagree, but one thing that always made Wonderfruit, well, wonderful is the consistent effort in creating new structures every year. The Solar Village has always been iconic, and do we even need to mention Polygon? The colossal honeycomb-shaped canopy known for its immersive 360° audio-visual experience is a live connection to nature with its flanks of Samanea Saman trees planted during festival downtime. 

This year, we love how the team has done up the decks by the water but in the day, we found ourselves drawn to the 24-hour hub of Neramit, where a corrugated metal structure has taken over the previous bamboo pavilion.

One of the most Instagrammable spots at Wonderfruit this year, though, has to be Moonlight Lounge. Looking like a moon that crash-landed in The Fields, its built from repurposed SangSom bottles that catch light and refract colours from the venue’s natural surroundings.

Music for the all souls (and goals!)

Wonderfruit is a feast for all the senses, but year after year, the soundscape never fails to disappoint. While wandering around in the early evening, we stumbled upon roving musicians and dragon parade that delighted festival goers and undoubtedly heightened the mood for what was to come when night fell.

Highlights of the incredibly line-up for us were Blinker and Moses at the Creature Stage, who jazzed up the first night with their Carribean rhythm and hip hop influenced jazz traditions; Ben UFO at The Quarry in the wee hours of Saturday morning, and DJ Tennis playing into the sunrise on Monday morning at Solar Village. We also caught the World Cup Final at Ziggurat, where the penalty shootout kept everyone on edge.

Learning from all walks of life

With wellness, workshops, and talks heavily integrated into Wonderfruit daily programming, one can’t help but walk away from the festival with newfound knowledge. Foodies flocked to Isaan Rice Tower to taste over 20 rice varieties native to the Thailand’s north east and learnt about honey at the Open Kitchen from local agricultural organisations.

In addition to yoga at the Yoga Barn and activities like tie-dye and pickle-making, there was an eye-opening talk, From Sin to Sexual Awakening, by the female founders of Vira and The Oh Collective that opened up a dialogue of looking at sex and pleasure positively.

Sustainability is (not) ugly

The focus on sustainability and the environment is unmissable. Regular festival attendees would have gotten used to the absence of single-use plastic, and this year, the organisers have gone a step further by replacing water packaging with aluminum cans (water fountains are still very much available for our own drinking vessels). They’ve also expanded their range of Wonder Cups with a version made locally with coconut husk. The basketball hoops scattered around the grounds is a fun element to encourage the recycling of coconut husks, too.

Renewal at Wonderfruit took place in the form of planting 20,000 trees onsite, in collaboration with conservation organization SUGi and local forest planting team from Baansuan Onsorn. Festival goers got to plant their own tree and learn about biodiversity through this native plant rewilding project.

Food, glorious food

Sustenance was available in many options at the festival. Though we didn’t have a chance to partake in a Wonder Feast this year, the Open Kitchen helmed by Goo Goo offered hearty and delicious Burmese food. Other food vendors we enjoyed were Mr. Omelet dishing out Thai-style egg omelettes, Peppina at SOT for pizza, and mookata on 18 degree nights. The thing though? We always start our days with a shot of tequila, straight into our coconuts.

Wonderfruit will return 14 to 17 December 2023 to Siam Country Club, Pattaya, Thailand. For more information on their pre-sale tickets, please visit their website. 

All images courtesy of Wonderfruit.