If you're picturing polite choreography and TikTok routines in matching joggers, close this tab immediately. Bangkok doesn’t exactly lack for parties, but Bad Vibes has never been interested in playing by the rules. What began as a scrappy competition in 2022 has evolved into a five-day carnival of sweat, music and stubborn pride, a stage where dancers turn defiance into choreography and the audience becomes part of the storm.
Now in its fourth year, this hip-hop showdown has grown into a full-blown international face-off. We’re talking dancers from Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam and India flying in with serious footwork and enough attitude to fill HOSTBKK.
Yes, there are judges. Yes, there are official categories – hip-hop, house and crew battles. But this is less a contest, more a street party dressed up as a festival. Dancers don’t just perform – they taunt, they flirt, they dare each other to go harder. The crowd? Loud. Unapologetic. Fully in it. It’s all gloriously unhinged and you’ll love every second.
Taking place October 23-27 at HOSTBKK, the event spills across multiple days with a mix of theatre, workshops and pure dance carnage. One night you're at Pulse of Origin, a genre-scrambling performance that weaves cultural storytelling into movement. The next, you're at a panel that unexpectedly turns into a freestyle cypher.
Highlights:
- Dance Battles on hip-hop and house (solos, duos, crews) with world-class DJs and judges
- Theatre Night: Pulse of Origin, a piece splicing storytelling with choreography and cultural ritual
- Workshops, panels and exchanges bridging technique, tradition and community
Qualifiers have already played out from Delhi to Hanoi, all funneling into the finals on October 26. But the festival builds around those duels with a loose sprawl of extras – film screenings, panel talks, even a khanom and chill session for those who’d rather swap sweat for sweets. Afterparties are, naturally, a given.
The event was born in 2022, the brainchild of dance collective Thrixept, who clearly know how to stage a spectacle without sanding down the edges. What’s left is something between a celebration and a reckoning: hip-hop stripped of polish, alive with risk, and louder than any room should legally allow.
Tickets are on sale now at B500-6,500 via Ticketmelon here
Event schedule:
Event map:
