The Benicassim festival, otherwise know as the FIB Heineken International Festival, is held in a fairly small town on the Mediterenean coast in Valencia. The actual music runs from Friday night to Sunday Morning although there is also a pre festival party on the Thursday night and a post festival all night beach party.
Benicassim its self is a holiday town with plenty of hotels and apartments, unfortunately most of these are can be booked up a long time in advance, although from 2006 the festival date has been altered to avoid the peak Spanish holiday period which may improve the situation. If not the Festival have 3 camp sites of their own which you also pay for in the ticket price which makes them essentially free camping areas. You can turn and up and start camping up to a week before the festival starts and spend some time in Benicassim its self acclimitising to the surroundings.
Various Club members have been to Benicassim 3 years running now and the general consensus is that it is the easily the best festival any of us have had the pleasure of visiting. First of all the Spanish weather is far more reliably hot than its UK equivalent, secondly the festival begins in the early evening and goes on through the night until morning, thirdly the bands are scheduled to avoid clashes between popular bands meaning you can generally see everyone you want to see without too many tricky choices, fourthly the campsites are seperate from the festival arena which means you are free to spend the days on the beach and making the most of the facilities of Benicassim its self which is well appointed with cafes, bars, supermarkets and shops, fifthly the ambience created by the heat, the late nights and the mix of people is superb and can give bestow energy upon the most lethargic of people and happiness to the most miserable.
I have written 3 accounts for our 2004 ( incomplete ), 2005 experiences and 2006 which you can read by following the links at the bottom of this post and there are accompanying photos here for 2004 and here for 2005.
There is some information available on the web including the official FIB site and some message boards where you chat to veterans and get a good idea of the lie of the land:
- UK Benicassim discussion
- E-Festivals Benicassim discussion
- UK Wiki with a lot of general info
- Excellent interactive map of Benicassim showing hotels, campsites and more
- NME discussion ( nothing really of interest on here )
The main concern of most people seems to be about the fierce Spanish heat and the campsite setup. Although it's hot the campsites have excellent shade ( they are all in groves of Olive Trees ) 3 shower blocks with cubicles, mirrors, sinks, taps and power points for razors and other electrical hygiene equipment. The campsite also has a bar which sells water, ice, beer, iced coffee, fresh orange juice food, cigarettes and is open pretty much 24/7, the campsite is patrolled by security and you need a pass to get in. Security do not hassle you in any way about anything unless you are trying to cook on a BBQ in which case they will ask you to move to a tarmac area..
There is also a large supermarket which sells everything you could possibly want only 5 mins walk from the campsite.
Below is a quick map of the area and some of the more interesting locations, I will add more as I come across them/remember where they were ( you may have to zoom out a bit to see all of them, there are still a few bugs in this map thing.. . )
CampsiteShopBenicassimPubWater parkMusic FestivalCafeRestaurantBus stopRailway stationLeisure centreFast food | |
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