KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The Neon Music Festival 2025 (NMF2025) closed its curtains spectacularly as a crowd of over 10,000 thronged KL Base, Bandar Malaysia in Sungai Besi over the weekend.
The festival which took place on April 11 was the first local EDM music festival to take place since the Pinkfish Countdown 2024 New Year’s Eve tragedy, which saw four deaths and three more hospitalised after exhibiting symptoms from drug intake.
The tragedy also led Selangor police to temporarily suspend the approval of concert permits in the state, as previously reported.
And that was not the only case of drug-related deaths at music festivals in Malaysia.
In 2014, six people died due to drug intake and suffocation during the Future Music Festival Asia concert in Bukit Jalil.
Taking notes from past incidents, the NMF2025 team said in a press release that they had implemented new crowd safety protocols, modelled after top-tier festivals such as Ultra Music Festival and Tomorrowland.
Aside from that, they are also working closely with local authorities to implement the new safety protocols which includes:
- Real-time crowd density monitoring across festival grounds.
- Multiple emergency access lanes and rapid response teams.
- Clear signage and trained personnel to ensure smooth ingress and egress.
- Regular safety drills and live coordination with local medical and enforcement agencies.
“Our top priority has always been the safety and comfort of our attendees” they said in the press statement.
“We worked hand-in-hand with city officials and safety experts to make sure every element of the experience was both thrilling and secure.”
The NMF2025 saw several top tier DJs taking over the stage in a night of non-stop high energy electronic music.
This includes sets by Ukranian duo Artbat with their blend of melodic techno paired with stunning audiovisuals, followed by the first ever back-to-back-to-back (B3B) set in Asia featuring DubVision, Matisse & Sadko and Third Party.
The night ended on a high note as legendary Dutch DJ Hardwell took the stage delivering an adrenaline-fueled performance complete with pyrotechnics and visuals that lit up the KL skyline.
NMF2025 also featured a slew of local and regional DJs, which included Blink and DirtySignal, 22Bullets, Marvinz1r, RXB, Honey Gee and Chukiess & Whackboi.
