Carly Anne’s Top Ten List for BPM!
When most people create a top ten list, it is from facts compiled from sales statistics and popularity. My list however, reflects what I feel were the ten things I loved most about my whole experience attending the 5th Annual BPM Festival in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It will range from DJs I saw, venues I went to, food I ate and things to do when you’re not raving! I know WMC is coming next month but this top 10 list will show you (in just a few ways) why many people feel BPM is a better festival than WMC.
10. Cheap beers! Your best bet is to stick with beer most of the trip. Even IF you stay somewhere the water is filtered, I wouldn’t chance it. You could end up missing a whole day due to “illness”(say no to ice in your red bull and vodka!)
9. Having BPM wrist bands. BPM offered VIP wrist bands for $385 and believe me it is worth it. Blue Parrot was $50 per night at the door! Plus La Santanera was right up the street and with other random parties left and right; having the freedom to go wherever you please with out forking over peso after peso was quite lovely. Also you NEVER had to wait in line.
8. Having accommodations within walking distance of the main hot spots. Whetheryou find a place in Playa’s downtown by the nightclubs or further north by the day beach parties, convenience is definitely key. Wristbands also come in handy here because you have in and out priviledges as much as you like; so if you are staying close, you can go slam shots at your place or not have to wait in a 20 minute line for a questionable bathroom stall.
7. The back dance floor at Blue Parrot. That venue is huge and even though it isoutdoors it can get PACKED and quick. If you walk straight back and slightly to the righttowards the beach there is a whole other dance floor and set of huge speakers. Plus there are beds along the little dance floor in case you might need to sort yourself for amoment. Also, there were usually fire dancers right there on the beach on the other side of the janky fence surrounding the property of the club.
6. The dancing B, P and M letters. Ha ha, sounds weird, right? The festival hired these 3 guys to dress up as those letters and they were disco-fied! They had a ton of energy,
would always show up out of nowhere and just put on quite a show every time. The crowd loved them and I found them perfectly entertaining.
5. The upstairs terrace at La Santanera. The set up and décor up there just has one of those good vibes that if they had put more desirable acts up there I probably would have never left it. The ceiling is lined with these crazy Day of the Dead tribal looking
masks, they took wrestling masks and turned them into decor, but the best was I think that their reserved signs for tables had Jesus on them.
4. The main room sound at La Santanera. Maybe because it is a smaller venue or that the walls are cushioned so the sound bounces off with beautiful ease, but whatever it is the sound for me was the best there. Problem is on packed nights it can be an oven in there, but hey that’s why number 5 comes into play!
3. Random taco hut in downtown Tulum. Best Mexican food I have ever had! The menu there didn’t really have a name and it definitely didn’t need one. This place was popping! The tables are plastic patio furniture, the menu is written on the wall and it isby far some of the cheapest dinning I did on the whole trip. It is next to the Hostel and if you ask any local person there, they will know exactly what you are talking about. That’s how we found it. In Playa Del Carmen, El Fogon had some awesome tacos too.
2. The DJs mentality while at BPM. I can’t even begin to describe how different it is with the artists when they are there as compared to other festivals or even when they are at you local club. They look at BPM more as a vacation than as work. They are there to have fun like you and I. You see them walking the streets, dining at hole-in-the-wall cafes; they go to all the parties and dance next to you to the beats of their favorite artists. “Like Miami back in the beginning of WMC” are the words uttered by each and every person that has been around long enough.
1. Here it is, my number one FAVORITE thing about The BPM Festival: THE MUSIC! Finally a festival where 95% of the artists there were pretty much all my favorites or people I have been dying to see. Night after night, day after day, one party leading to the next with labels like Desolat, Hot Creations, Saved, Culprit, Crosstown Rebels or artists like Dubfire, Richie Hawtin, Marco Carola, Lee Burridge and the list goes on! I mean there is so many different styles of EDM music out there, but for us in the States we are limited to what DJs come around here and BPM is a place where us lovers of techno, tech house, minimal and deep house can come and just drown ourselves in musical heaven. BPM does a stellar job of programing these different genres so that there was always an underground alternative to a more mainstream sound both day and night.
There you have it. Of course, those of you who have been may disagree or think I have left out some things, but I can tell you now that this was not my last year and this list will continue to grow. Maybe even one day to a top 100! Please feel free to add your comments below!
Related posts:
- BPM Festival 2012 - Super Special 10-Day VIP Passes On Sale
- FestivalZoo picks for daytime parties at BPM 2012!
- BPM Festival 2012 - 1st Phase of Artists Released
- Featured Festival BPM Festival 2012 Playa Del Carmen Guide
- The BPM Festival Brings You Inaugural PRIMAVERA FESTIVAL - Playa del Carmen, Mexico, April 21-24, 2011
