Okay, so you may have seen that the Ibiza 123 Festival recently took place on the White Isle…
The ‘Rocktronic’ event mixed house and live acts over three days and the line ups included Sting, Elton John and Lenny Kravitz alongside the likes of Tiesto, Guetta and Luciano. The production was incredible, a massive stage, huge sound and lighting rig and the biggest video screen inEurope. The only thing missing it seems was tens of thousands of people who didn’t materialise. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments that made the whole event extremely successful – Lenny being the stand out set, but the heavy duty corporate invasion onto the normally laid back sunset strip was for many people a step too far.
Ordinarily with events like this in Ibiza, locals and workers alike get at the very least a reduction on entrance fees but this time there was no discount on the €70 a day tickets. The costs of putting on the 123 were probably ridiculous and potentially a loss leader event in some ways to establish itself for the future, but in terms of hosting a festival,Ibizais a different animal. Costs have to be covered, people have to be paid, of course, but if nothing else, it was all a little too ambitious for the amount of people on the island at the time. I’m personally not convinced that there will be another next year, we’ll see.
At the stroke of midnight, (the exact moment the festival finished on day three), in a cave down the coast from San An, a generator started and the music and lights came on. Walking down some steps carved from the rock, we followed our senses in the dark to find an opening in the cliff and inside discovered a party in full swing. Without any advertising, social networking and not even a text being sent out, over 250 people descended (literally) to party all the way through to 7.30 in the morning.
I won’t name the instigator and music provider of the event, he’s an internationally renowned artist and promoter that we all know and love here in Ibiza and when I caught up with him a week later he was still buzzing. “It wasn’t about making money; it was just about making a party with great music for good people.”
The free party ethos reigned supreme, it was in some ways sticking two fingers up at some might say the too slick ‘corporate’ Ibiza, but in all fairness it was just a bloody good party and all you had to do was find it.
The free party still roams free around the island of Ibiza– I can’t wait for the next one!
