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Gather, and be in it.

Medicine Circle

Awakenest archive material documents ceremony, healing practices, gong baths, traditional musicians and dancers from Koh Phangan Suksa School, and other music in the Medicine Circle.

Awakenest's open-air gathering space, built as a circle. There is a stage, but most of what happens here happens in the round.

A performer in a gold headdress and pearl necklaces extends her arms in a classical dance gesture at night.

What happens here

Archive photographs and past festival copy document movement, fire, cultural showcases and dance, singing circles, Kirtan, ceremony, storytelling and concerts in this space.

Current sessions and access are published in the programme or confirmed by request.

Two hands play a rope-tuned djembe beneath a microphone.
A woman sings into a microphone in profile under coloured light beside a guitarist.

The singing circle

Voices carry this space as much as instruments do. Archive photographs document singing circles, Kirtan and songs led from the ground rather than from the stage.

Whoever is playing sits inside the gathering, so the people singing back are part of the sound.

People seated on the ground sing together at night with hands raised, one of them holding a frame drum.
Two guitarists play seated on the ground with the gathering close around them at night.
A guitarist and a singer lead a song while people stand and sing with them at night.
A singer with her eyes closed sings into a microphone with the seated gathering behind her.

Cultural performance

Traditional musicians and dancers from Koh Phangan Suksa School have performed in this circle, in classical costume and on traditional instruments.

Archive photographs document masked Khon dance, fan dance, crowned classical dance and Thai ensembles playing in the open air.

At the gatherings of 2023, 2024 and 2025, students from the school performed Tari Kipas, Nora and Lao Siang Thian, and student musicians played traditional Thai music. Who took part in each, and who trained them, is on the community participation page.

Community participation, year by year

Two dancers in gold crowns and beaded costume perform in the open air with a tiled pavilion roof and the sea behind them.
Dancers with red and white fans perform in front of a seated gathering at dusk.
A dancer in an ornate crown performs inside a seated gathering under strings of lights at night.
Young musicians in white play a boat-shaped Thai xylophone seated beside the sea.

Fire

A fire is lit on the open ground and the circle sits around it, with the musicians playing beside it.

Fire is held by the people running it. Follow their instructions, and keep the ground around it clear.

A fire burns on open ground in front of a seated circle beneath an open thatched pavilion at night.
Robed musicians sit and play on the ground beside a fire at night.
A performer spins flaming poi through drifting smoke at night.
A fire performer traces bright arcs of flame through the dark.
Three performers in gold costume hold candles at dusk beside the sea.

Medicine Circle at Thong Sala

The circle has also been carried off the land and held at the pier in town: movement, sound and cultural performance gathered in the open air at Thong Sala Pier.

Published posters record gatherings at Thong Sala Pier on 24 August 2024 and on 5 to 6 July 2025, both with free entry.

A large gathering sits on mats facing the water as the sun sets behind the pier.
Large painted gongs stand in a row beside the sea, one of them being played.
People sit together on mats by the water with their hands at their hearts.
A wide night gathering seated on mats at the pier under pink and blue light.

More photographs from Thong Sala

How to be in it

Observe before entering, move gently, and follow the guidance of the space holder.

Enter with respect for the people, practitioners and intentions already present.

Three musicians play bass, sing and drum while seated together on a rug lit by fairy lights.

Find it on the pathWhat is on

Three women in white raise their arms and lift a frame drum in front of strings of lights at night.

Come and find it

How to reach the island, and how to get here once you have landed.

Location and travelNests