51 replies to this topic

[Shambler]

Great, thanks for that, really helpful!

Thinking about what to do on the days around the festival. Would be a shame to head all that way just to got the festival and head straight home, so thinking about a couple of nights in Biarritz afterwards. Pamplona fiesta is on before and during BBK, and San Sebastian looks great too, so maybe stop for a night there on way to Biarritz!

[neiltring]

ilikespecialcake, on 25 January 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

Nice little blog here, http://disco-vigilan...ch/label/Bilbao

Thanks for the link to my blog. There are two years on there when i went and i have attached a picture to this post too. Yes its in crappy paint but gives some idea of the festival.

The blue is the camping area, the yellow is the arena and the red are the two stages, give or take. The pink arrow points to where the coach drop off point is.
The first year we camped in the smaller of the blue areas as we didn't know where to go. It was good but there was no shade and it was camping on a car park pretty much. Easy to set the tents up but was a bit rough. The Larger blue area is shaded by trees, lots of people camp there. However it has slopes. So i had to sleep at an angle which proved hard at some points But by far better as the shade was so nice. It get so hot there and sun up is about 7am and sunset is about 11pm. So you will be awake about 10am unless your lucky to have shade covering your tent.

You will need some kind of hoody/jumper thing going on towards the night unless you are in the crowd for the night. If your sat on the hill (Really good vantage point for the main stage) then it gets chilly. Same that you will need jeans as well as shorts.

Flights are cheap and you can get one to Santander or Bilbao, myself i took and will take a ferry to the festival, takes longer as in the blog but its worth it for prolonging the holiday.

For things to do if you dont want to stay at the festival... The coaches will take you into town which drop you off at Bilbao football stadium (Which is where you get picked up from incidently) And its a short walk to Bilbao centre which is full of nice expensive shops like most cities and there is the historical Bilbao too. Though bare in mind that midday is siesta and you will not get any food from pubs at that time (Found that out the hard way)

As for language barrier, its very tough.... Yes they speak spanish in Bilbao but its the Basque Country. So its a different dialect to normal Spanish. Got tough at times for my limited Spanish (dos cervezas, por favor)

Erm you have to queue up once in the festival and exchange Euros for tokens which can be spent inside the fesival. Merchandise from various stalls are in Euros but food and drink are paid for by the tokens.

Not sure what else to say unless people have questions? Yes the running of the bulls is before the festival and Sans Sebastian is worth a trip as a few people i met both years did them both. Depends if you want a long week/ two week holiday or just a little festival. Its still really small, alot of the people are English/American/Australian etc but you get everyone there. All friendly, all up for a laugh and by far one of my favorite festivals.

Any questions ill happily ask from my experiences but if your on twitter give @bilbaobbkliveuk a shout as they are the UK promotional team for the festival.

[neiltring]

Also forgot but the Guggenheim museum. We went in but my mate didnt want to spend the 11 Euros to go through. Shame as i really wanted to go in. Also there are some amazing markets there to visit.

[ilikespecialcake]

Useful to know about the 2 campsites, had no idea about that and would much rather be in the shaded area. What about campsite facilities and prices in the festival?
Thanks for all the info! All I need now is some Spanish phrases to get me through!

[neiltring]

Yeh i didnt know the first year but met some australians that were camping there. Had it so much better in the shade of trees. The facilities? Well the showers are good, you only get hot water really early in the morning but to be fair the cold showers were just as good since its so hot at about 9am so when i wake at 11am a cold showers is good.

Prices in the festival is as i put, like 7 euros for a litre of beer. not bad and the food is pretty decent.

[jump]

Klaxons have pulled out to work on their new album...

http://www.gigwise.c...val-Appearances

[Swigle]

Anyone know if there is any campervan camping?  If not on site, then somewhere near by?
Cheers

[ilikespecialcake]

Says in this link no camper vans or caravans on site...
http://www.bilbaobbk...emid=12&lang=en

There are plenty of other campsites on the outskirts of the city.
http://www.camping-s...ing-vizcaya.htm

Hope this helps!

[Swigle]

Cheers for the reply ilike!

I'd kinda glanced at some of the outskirts campsites but look like a bit of a trek to the venue - not really wanting to have to spend ages getting to and from venue on a daily basis, def don't want to drive it daily - driving means no drinking and what's a festival without some of the amber stuff?

Will check out the campsites in a bit more derail to figure out what the commute would be like.

[Davydenko]

San Sebastian is Beautiful, you all should visit

[ilikespecialcake]

Davydenko, on 11 February 2012 - 02:34 PM, said:

San Sebastian is Beautiful, you all should visit

We've hired a 7 bed apartment for 5 nights after the festival, nice bit of relaxation after the festival! All that's left for us is sorting out the car hire!

Does anyone know if you can fly with a round pop up tent attached to a camping bag with easy jet? I've got the 20kg allowance... Or! Can I check this in alongside my other bag within the 20kg allowance.

Cheers x

[PastCaring]

Not sure about Easyjet, but we took a pop up tent to Spain on Ryanair - they had no problem with it but we had to check it in as oversized luggage.

[Yeahf]

Hi

I think this festival is a nice alternative to the FIB´s disaster this year. I´m going.

And after BBk live, I´ve booked some days too in San Sebastian. During these days ther is a Jazz Festival, but I´ve seen that other editions played some no-jazz bands, and some of this acts free
This year is playing Antony, without the Jonsons, but with an orchestra. Hoping for new additions for the line-up
http://www.heinekenj...om/?language=en

Sorry for my english,

[headless]

We are going this year. Five of us. The tent on the plane is a bit of a worry, but sounds like plenty mix of people going so should be good.
Snow Patrol are amazing live and Radiohead are one of the biggest bands ever, so is gonna be amazing.
Any tips not been mentioned?

[ilikespecialcake]

Just curious as to when people are flying out? Not much choice when it comes to booking flights! Wonder if it will be a plane full of festival goers! Were flying from stanstead on the 10th

[ilikespecialcake]

Yeahf, on 13 February 2012 - 02:58 PM, said:

Hi

I think this festival is a nice alternative to the FIB´s disaster this year. I´m going.

And after BBk live, I´ve booked some days too in San Sebastian. During these days ther is a Jazz Festival, but I´ve seen that other editions played some no-jazz bands, and some of this acts free
This year is playing Antony, without the Jonsons, but with an orchestra. Hoping for new additions for the line-up

Thanks for this! will Make sure we check it out, any other recommendations for San sebastian would be great

Edited by ilikespecialcake, 18 February 2012 - 12:29 AM.

[headless]

ilikespecialcake, on 18 February 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

Just curious as to when people are flying out? Not much choice when it comes to booking flights! Wonder if it will be a plane full of festival goers! Were flying from stanstead on the 10th

Think we may be doing the same.

I emailed Ryan Air and they've told me that a tent (classed as sports equipment) will cost £25 extra to be checked in on the plane. Bit of a joke, maybe cheaper to buy over there?

Wondering if the festival will be like Leeds last year with plenty of mosh pits etc. How are the Spanish ta gigs and festivals??

[ilikespecialcake]

Were flying easy jet...We have flown with easy jet before and checked the tent (minus the pegs) in as hand luggage.
I've emailed easy jet and we don't have to class this a sports equipment but I'm just deciding wether to take my regular tent or the pop up. Worried about the pop up due to the big shape of it.

If Ryan air have said it will be £25 I would think it would be cheaper to buy one there? Must be some camp shops? Never been to a Spanish festival but hoping for good crowds.

[esseh2]

hope that it is true...

Edited by esseh2, 20 February 2012 - 02:32 PM.

[Shambler]

That would be amazing! Where did you see this? The B of Blur does look a little photoshopped, and Inspector Cluzo missing from the current poster on official website

Edited by Shambler, 20 February 2012 - 05:29 PM.