Pai Festivals: Northern Thailand
- Jessica Jaye
- Mar 1
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 5
When I first arrived in Thailand, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do. After some hitchhiking/camping in the south and working online in Bangkok, I headed north to a town called Pai. Pai is a hippie hub where you’re likely to find anything you fancy. There’s medicine music, psytrance, legal weed, waterfalls, fire shows, flow arts, Thai boxing, breathwork, ecstatic dance, reggae… the list goes on. Add festivals to that list. This article will talk about 3 that I attended.
Pai Pan Gathering: Handpan and Music Wellness Festival
At the bus stop waiting to go to Pai, I noticed a man carrying a few heavy boxes filled with mini handpans. If you don’t know what a handpan is, it is a fairly new steel percussion instrument that is shaped like a spaceship and creates a mellow, hypnotic sound. Me and the handpan guy got to talking and he mentioned a festival happening in a few days. I was curious and looking for connections so I reached out to the organizers about volunteering.
Performance: 4/5 | Dates: December 8-10, 2024 |
Workshops: -- | Social: @pai.pan.gathering |
Organization: 2/5 | Website: Pai Pan Gathering |
In exchange for some hours, I got to attend the festival for free. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the full experience because of a stomach bug brought on by drinking bad water.
Performances: The talent that the team brought to the table was quite good. The headliner was Yogetsu Akasaka, a Zen Buddhist priest and live loop artist. Even in between vomiting, I made it out to see this man’s performance because it was incredible! Ah wow! And his wasn’t the only one. This festival offered a unique blend of sounds highlighting lesser known instruments. As a music lover, it was an experience that I enjoyed and deeply appreciated.
Workshops: I missed the first day because I was teaching online. I missed the second day because I was flyering around town. I missed the third day because I was throwing up… The few workshops I attended were really good, but I didn’t get to experience enough of this part of the festival to give a rating. The most memorable of these few experiences was doing my first breathwork session with Bill from 24/7 Breath.
Organization: Despite the uniqueness and well intended vision of the Pai Pan team, there were a few lapses in the organization. This became most obvious to me when the tech guy was adjusting the audio during one of the performances. It was clear they didn’t do a sound check. Things weren’t always on time which happens, but it seemed more often than usual. In general, it seemed like things were being thrown together in the moment.
Final Impression: I’m excited to see what happens with this festival. Before the vomiting, I was having fun working with the team, dancing in the evenings, and watching the performances. The festival attracted good hearted people. I wish I could have participated more and I’m definitely interested in experiencing this festival in its power. I think the variety of activities and musical styles could make for a really good time. There’s a lot of potential here.
Fai Jai Flow Fest
A Rainbow brother that I met in Italy, sent me the flyer for this festival. He had plans for Thailand, but wouldn’t make it. The event went over my head, but was on my radar. What I didn’t notice at first was that it was being held at Dreamscape, the same location as the Pai Pan Gathering. While sitting at the cafe working on a piece of writing, one of the organizers approached me asking if I wanted to volunteer. I didn’t know much about “flow arts,” but he explained that it was about movement and fire to which I was quite interested.
Performances: 4.5/5 | Dates: February 3-5, 2025 |
Workshops: 3.5/5 | Social: @faijai.flowfest |
Organization: 5/5 | Website: www.faijaiflowfest.com/ |
Again, in exchange for some hours, I got to attend the festival for free; but I didn’t go full power because I wanted to save energy for Shambhala (another festival being held the same week). Regardless of energy, wow! This was- wow! I was really impressed.
Workshops: I could’ve done some research… As a person who didn’t know what “flow arts” were, the board was filled with words that I didn’t know. FYI: Flow arts refers to the intersection of movement-based disciplines like dance, juggling, fire spinning, and prop manipulation (aka: high class circus skills). Even though some friends offered to lend me their props, I played it safe with workshops in dance, acro yoga, yoga, and beginner aerial hoop. The dance classes were too easy for me and I was bored, though grateful. I miss taking dance classes. I should've gone to this acro dance flow thing, but it was at the end of the day and I was tired of being in the dome (where all the dance classes were held). The acro yoga classes were well taught and engaging. The yoga class was ok. The aerial class was loads of fun! I tried for a rhythmic juggling class, but couldn’t find the teacher. In general, the options were plentiful and I’m curious to play more with flow arts -especially the hoop and acro movement.
Organization: Nearly flawless execution. It was easy to tell that the organizers were prepared. They had a clear vision and knew their target audience well. The amphitheater was standing room only every night and various toys were spinning at all times. Of course there were a few hiccups, but honestly, such a job well done.
Final Impression: This festival exceeded expectations. The energy was so good and pure. The movement and artistry… yeah, wow. The only thing I might add is a chill place reserved for cooling down and stretching. The venue has a pool and sauna which I did use, but the music was full power at all times. In general, going to this festival was a great inspiration. It made me consider the athlete and the performer I used to be. She often gets neglected in my nomadic lifestyle. It also reminded me of how significant movement is for my overall well being. After the festival, there was a fire in my heart. I was motivated and making clear, decisive action. I have a deep appreciation and admiration for the Fai Jai Flow Fest. I highly recommend it.
Shambhala In Your Heart Festival
Way back around Christmas time, people started talking about Shambhala. At first, I couldn’t even pronounce the name and no one had any real information about it. One guy told me that it wasn’t something I needed to plan for. He said there was music that wasn’t that good, chill vibes, camping, and it was cheap. At first, I was not planning to go, but the whole town got up and left for it so I decided to give it a try. Though not technically hosted in Pai, enough Pai people went that I think it counts.
Performances: 3/5 | Dates: February 7-16 |
Workshops: -- | Social: @shambhala.fes.official |
Organization: 4/5 | Website: www.shambhalainyourheart.com |
The festival was 300 Baht a day ($9 USD) or 2000 Baht ($60 USD) for 7+ days. This included access to camping grounds. There was one free day in the middle because of a national holiday. I planned to stay for 2 ½ days, but ended up staying for 6.
Performances: Like the guy said, the performances weren’t that good in my opinion. I listened and clapped to a few, but it was the improv jams on the side that really got my attention. The open mic was epic and a random assortment of musicians by a cafe would create some real magic. The festival had a good mix of westerners and Asians. You could hear any style of music being played at any time of the day. Drum circles happened routinely at sunset, there was a DJ and fire spinning around a fire near my hammock the first night, a handpan guy from Taiwan would wake me in the morning, and miscellaneous musicians from miscellaneous countries making miscellaneous music created a general vibe of gooey and delicious goodness.
Workshops: The workshops were on a volunteer basis. Facilitators would put their offering on a board and people would show up. Some of the offerings were free, others donation based, and others had a fixed fee. I wasn’t really motivated to do the workshops after Fai Jai Flow Fest. I spent most of my time listening/dancing to music, making music, and at the hot springs close by. I wanted to attend one workshop on making natural paints, but every time I went, it was already full. I attended a Thai massage workshop which was interesting, but simple and then a sunrise yoga class that was slow and informative. There were a lot of offerings, but again, I don’t feel like I experienced enough to leave a proper review.
Organization: For a festival of this size, I think the organizers did a great job. They lost a point for multiple workshops being listed in the same location at the same time and a very neglected and forgotten toilet next to my campground. Also, it wasn’t clear at first whether or not the festival would happen.
Final Impression: In the end, I loved the vibes and the energy here. I spent most of the day relaxing in the hot springs and hanging out with people. In the evenings, we were jamming until late. There were a million different worlds to engage with which I really appreciated. The people were kind, clean, and respectful. I was surprised and I’ll probably make space for a few days here again next year.
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