Clockenflap Festival: Try a Little Grass

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Lying on the grass at an outdoor music festival isn't the kind of activity most travelers associate with urbanized Hong Kong, but if you're in town on the weekend of Nov. 7-8, you might want to consider it. This being Hong Kong, the grass we're referring to is the expansive roof garden of a commercial podium at the city's digital hub, Cyberport. But no matter, Clockenflap, as the event is known, is a highly enjoyable "music and multimedia festival" now in its second year. It replaces the void left by Rockit, an annual band fest in the city's Victoria Park that sang its last hurrah in 2006. (See pictures of Hong Kong.)

"Rockit opened doors and proved that a festival format was possible in Hong Kong," says Justin Sweeting, Clockenflap's artist-relations manager. "The fundamental difference is that Clockenflap is a festival with film, art and ecological components as well as music."

This year's lineup includes punk act Blood Red Shoes and highbrow indie combo Los Campesinos, both from the U.K., as well as U.S. electronica duo YACHT, DJ Alexis Taylor and local favorites Chochukmo, perhaps the most charismatic band to have emerged in southern China in recent years. For details see clockenflap.com.

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