A record breaking 25,000 festival-goers turned up at Heineken Thirst, Malaysia’s premier music and lifestyle festival. With a night illuminating finale of electric visuals, pyrotechnics and fireworks, Heineken Thirst headliner Tiësto proved once and for all why he deserves the title of Greatest DJ of All Time.

As Heineken Thirst fans entered the specially designed festival site, they were transported into a world created by Heineken. Greeted by a series of massive installation pieces created by architectural visual collective Neu Bild – curated by visual artist Callen Tham – it set a design tone that was carried throughout the site.

Mirroring the levels of creativity seen at international festivals like Burning Man, Glastonbury and Electric Daisy Carnival, the installations – Suspense, Kreatur, Firewall and interactive photo sculpture Release – presented a larger than life welcome to Heineken Thirst, bringing together the latest in motion and video mapping technology projected onto five metre tall structures that dominated the Heineken Thirst skyline.

“Tonight, 25,000 people have shown their support for an amazing line up of international and local stars at Heineken Thirst,” said Jasmine Foong, Marketing Manager of Heineken Malaysia. “And they take away with them an experience that is uniquely Heineken: from high design bars and VIP areas, to futuristic concepts in art and design. Tonight has been a journey to the cutting edge of music and lifestyle festivals.”

That same theme of magnitude and transformation was reflected throughout Heineken Thirst. 10 metre science fiction-inspired turrets – announced the entry into the main stage arena. Underneath the towers, the futuristic Heineken Infinity Bar played with light and shadow with its suspended structures and angular construction created a Heineken drinking experience unique to Heineken Thirst.

Flanked by the immaculately appointed VIP terrace, this exclusive raised bar area provided a calmer alternative to the high energy action in front of the main stage. Another Heineken Thirst signature, the luxuriously designed Heinekabanas, were certainly the place to be seen at, boasting its own dance floor space and uninterrupted views of the stage in addition to personal butler service and VIP entry facilities.

And for those who wanted to change their horizons, there was the more intimate atmosphere of the Star Lounge. Modelled on New York’s VIP dance music clubs, the Star Lounge offered exclusive table service, a place to respite whilst cutting edge dance floor tunes are spun from the likes of Terence C (Altered Image), DJ XU, Bryan Burger and more.

Of course, it was the main stage that featured most of the action at Heineken Thirst. This year’s Heineken Found @ Thirst champion, Tommy Cham and runner up, Nick Haydez made their outdoor debuts opening the festival, while last year’s winner Phil K Lee demonstrated how far his journey has taken him over the last 12 months with an hour long set of uplifting tunes.

DJ Gabriel, one of Malaysia’s pioneering techno DJs, returned to Heineken Thirst with a set of brand new pumping tech and deep house tracks that reinforced his position as one of the figureheads of the Malaysian dance scene, while Blink, whose career rocketed after he won the original Found @ Thirst featuring Tiësto, effortlessly whipped the 25,000 strong crowd into a frenzy ready for the Heineken Thirst headliner.

Reacting to the sea of outstretched hands in front of him, Tiësto played a throbbing and pulsating set of trance-tinged house and electro cuts that has to be ranked amongst his best. Aided by leading edge LED projections and minimalist pyrotechnic displays, the Dutch maestro proved why he is consistently rated as the trend setter by both his peers and his fans.

With a final burst of fireworks and flames at its crescendo while Tiësto’s last notes echoed around the arena, Heineken Thirst can only be described as an epic night. From the larger-than-life scale of its bars and installations, to the personal touches of the Heinekabana and VIP areas, to the record-breaking 25,000 crowd to the epic music and artists: Heineken Thirst truly towers over 2011.