Electrobeach Festival 2011 in Benidorm.

Benidorm’s  Electrobeach Festival 2011 will be even bigger than that of last year, according to the organisers, who have expanded its length from two to five full days.

There will be the usual emphasis on integrating music with visual wizardry, and opening up access to all events will multiple passes.

“The challenge is to do something different in Benidorm, a festival to accompany the city tourism par excellence,” said event producer, Jesus Conde.  The event will run at the very peak of the high season, from the 24 to 27 August, and so the organizers have completed agreements with hotels, camp sites and travel agencies, to offer discounts to those coming to Benidorm for the Festival.

Promotional hoardings state that 65 artists will be headlining the Festival, although there has been concern that there has yet to be confirmation of exactly who the main attractions will be.

It is known that among those confirmed are Christian Varela, DJs, Steve Lawler, Planetary Assault Systems, Ben Sims, Kevin Saunderson, Oscar Mulero and John Acquaviva, amongst others. The five-day celebrations will take place at various venues, including beachfront  in the clubs as well as those in the Rincon area.

These are complemented by music sessions at the Castle of Benidorm and will culminate in a Global Party to be held on the last day on one of the main stages at Terra Mitica amusement park.

New this year will be the theme parties like SuperMartXé,  Circoloco Party, CL & Friends and Goa After Sunday, responding to requests from the younger audience.

There will also be the traditional and Sunset Sessions, Beach Stage and Clubbing night, and the organizers are hoping for a 15 per cent increase in the number of attendees this year, and are aiming for 25,000 people.

However, one challenge is to increase the foreign presence at this Festival. Last year, 20% of attendees came from outside Spain; mainly from France, Britain and Italy, and this figure is expected to increase after reaching agreements with foreign tour operators and, other tourism businesses. With this in mind special shuttle buses have been set up to ferry ticket holders between Benidorm and El Altet airport.

Last Year’s Electrobeach generated more than €6 million in turnover throughout Benidorm, with an average estimated expenditure expenditure of 90 euros per person per day. “The event is aimed to compliment the other two main festivals in Benidorm’s calendar” said Conrado Hernandez, Councillor for Events at the Town Hall; the others being September’s Low Cost and Turbo Rock Festivals.

By Paul Deed