Bennicassim 2016

[TheBaldEgg]

19 hours ago, rpfranks said:

Bostin?

Am yow local?

Haha, I am arr!

West Brom 

[rpfranks]

1 hour ago, TheBaldEgg said:

Haha, I am arr!

West Brom 

haha, I'm in Birmingham but I recognised it!

Maybe see you there.

[schoolyb]

Howdy.

My group of mates and I have booked an apartment and a hotel room in the Beni town centre (Monday to Monday, 11th to 18th), but we've now got a spare bed in the (triple) hotel room and as Brexit just made everything a whole lot more expensive for everyone we thought we'd see if there was anyone flying solo and looking for a bed for the festival? We arrive off the Valencia bus at 2.30pm on the Monday. 

The hotel is about 300m on from the Mercadona just off the high street (Av. Castellon) so a cracking location for the festival, the beach and the bars/shops in town. The downside being it's a nothing special Beni hotel with no air con, no fridge and you'd be sharing with two lads (both 25). (It's not a tent though, anyone who's been before will appreciate the value in this). It has a balcony, a private bathroom and our apartment is <50m away so you're welcome to join us for drinks. We'd leave the room key in reception so no obligation to stick with us at all.

I think we paid about £550 for the seven nights so could chat about cost, especially if you're not staying the whole week. Not going to ask for cash in advance as some dodgy scam, whatever we agree you can give us out there (it'd go in the group kitty anyway).

Oh, and if you're reading this thinking about doing Beni last minute but haven't booked anything yet you can currently pick up a full festival ticket for £50 (check Seatwave or the Facebook groups) and there's return flights for £150 still available. That and a cheap bed for the festival has got to be tempting, no?

[stubbs]

Class festival is Beni.

Thinking about making a return next year, but looking at Nos Alive and Bilbao festivals. Been to Beni 4 times, last time was 2011. Has it changed much since then? Last time we stayed in Hotel Orange, MUCH better than camping, those of you that are camping you'll have a class time on the campsite but your tent is like a sauna by 8am. Get yourself to the waterpark or beach for the day. you can take picnincs into the waterpark. Some of the big slides are excellent hangover cures!

Theres an open air nightclub  (or was) on the road between the waterpark and heading towards Hotel Orange that had a club night on before the festival last time we were there, little beach/supermarket and few restaurants down that way too, might be closer than heading through Beni town to the bigger beach area

[the wonderwhy]

Muse v Kills clash is a bit of a (pardon the pun) killer clash. 

Muse were shit at Glastonbury, so hopefully they sort their setlists out between now and Beni, or I'll be tempted to go to The Kills 

[rpfranks]

15 hours ago, stubbs said:

Class festival is Beni.

Thinking about making a return next year, but looking at Nos Alive and Bilbao festivals. Been to Beni 4 times, last time was 2011. Has it changed much since then? Last time we stayed in Hotel Orange, MUCH better than camping, those of you that are camping you'll have a class time on the campsite but your tent is like a sauna by 8am. Get yourself to the waterpark or beach for the day. you can take picnincs into the waterpark. Some of the big slides are excellent hangover cures!

Theres an open air nightclub  (or was) on the road between the waterpark and heading towards Hotel Orange that had a club night on before the festival last time we were there, little beach/supermarket and few restaurants down that way too, might be closer than heading through Beni town to the bigger beach area

I first went in 2013 and don't remember the open air night club so maybe that's gone now?

I don't mind the camping. We've done it every year. It's boiling early morning but at least it means you're up and about early. Tbh I sleep with the door open anyway or outside on a lilo most of the time. Insect spray is your friend ...

 

[the wonderwhy]

On 6/30/2016 at 1:40 PM, rpfranks said:

Not long now...glad to see Muse and Bloc Party don't clash as I purposely missed the former at Glastonbury to see them here!

Few tips for beforehand...

1/ Buy a locker in advance - you can get a small one on the FIB website for 25 EUR + 10 EUR deposit. These are perfect for things like passports, wallets, money, keys etc and we share one between 3/4 people usually. And the smallest one will be around 40 EUR on site, no matter when you pay for it. If you lose your passport you'll need to go to the British embassy in Barcelona and pay a lot of money to get a temporary one, I think it's about £100.

2/ Transfers/ getting around. For train tickets - go to renfe.com. For coach tickets - go to eufest.com or the FIB website, but eufest have more coaches running.  There's a bus which runs from the town centre directly to the festival site which costs 1.50 EUR per single trip or 15 EUR for a week pass. You can also rent bicycles for 70 EUR for the week, IIRC.

3/ Beni on a budget. I have done Beni on a budget most years and the Mercadona in the town (next to fountains and kids play area, you won't miss it) is dirt cheap for food and drinks. If you just fancy a sandwich, grab a baguette for 30cents, some ham/cheese and a couple of euros and that's a couple light snacks for the day.   You can get a burger for about 6/7 euros at most restaurants on the main walk down to the beach. Drinks - 70cl vodka is about 4 EUR in the supermarket. It's called Knebep. You can get a lot of different flavours but some of them are not the full 40% alc volume.  You can get about 12 small cans of beer (the ones you get on planes, about the same size as a coke can) for about 2 EUR.

4/ Tents etc - you can buy most things inside the festival once you exchange your wristband and head to Campfest area. Be prepared to pay a premium (air bed about 25 EUR, tent about 30 EUR) but if you only have hand luggage this may help you out. I have a small camping rucksack and my 2 man tent fits in it - just leave the pegs and mallet at home(you won't be able to peg them down anyway, ground is too hard - and some airlines might not let you carry them on) and don't bring a sleeping bag, way too hot.

5/ Nightlife/ bars - There is a club called Buddha about 20 min walk away from the site which opens on the nights before the festival. Look out for people handing out leaflets for free entry and free shots around the entrances and in the towns. Grab as many as you can as they will let you use them all at once.....!!  There's also a great Irish pub on the walk down to the beach (right hand side, same side as Mercadona) which has good air conditioning and a good pint of Guinness.  Sometimes there are on street DJs down a side street and Propaganda takes over a venue near the site too, can't remember which one this is, but you'll be given a leaflet for this when you get there I'm sure.

 

If anyone else has any tips feel free to add them below - and enjoy!

Cheers for the shout on the lockers, just ordered one for our group. 

I'm taking a tent as hand luggage (minus pegs). Apparently Barca has a Decathlon - hopefully be able to pick up a cheap camping chair there. 

[rpfranks]

25 minutes ago, MattDavies__ said:

Cheers for the shout on the lockers, just ordered one for our group. 

I'm taking a tent as hand luggage (minus pegs). Apparently Barca has a Decathlon - hopefully be able to pick up a cheap camping chair there. 

No probs. Camping chairs are 10 - 15 euros on site so you may as well just get one when you get there than traipse around Barcelona

But if you did want to buy in the city, we found a random camping shop in Madrid last year at the top of a shopping centre which did have everything much cheaper than on site we just couldn't carry it all and we had an overnight coach to deal with!

[simal123]

Me and my mates arrive around 13:30 on the Tuesday, will we struggle to find a place to camp in a shaded area?

 

[rpfranks]

8 hours ago, simal123 said:

Me and my mates arrive around 13:30 on the Tuesday, will we struggle to find a place to camp in a shaded area?

 

No you'll be fine, they don't like putting people without shade. They usually take you to a place with shade 

[TheBaldEgg]

2 hours ago, rpfranks said:

No you'll be fine, they don't like putting people without shade. They usually take you to a place with shade 

Hey man! 

Do they allocate spaces to camp? Or is it like UK festivals in the sense that once you get to the campsite, you simply pitch where you want to be?

We should arrive around 2-3pm local time on Monday but as i'm bald, I kind of want to get some shade haha! I don't want to be walking around with a burn head on day 1.

[rpfranks]

Just now, TheBaldEgg said:

Hey man! 

Do they allocate spaces to camp? Or is it like UK festivals in the sense that once you get to the campsite, you simply pitch where you want to be?

We should arrive around 2-3pm local time on Monday but as i'm bald, I kind of want to get some shade haha! I don't want to be walking around with a burn head on day 1.

Hi mate.

When you get to the campsite they take your passport and wristband number and then they normally take people through in groups of say 8-10 people and they find you somewhere to camp which is in the shade. 

They wont let people just wander off as then people will end up camping in direct sunlight and they have a duty of care to all attendees. Plus it's more potential casualties they'll have to deal with! 

We should be there about 6.30/7pm on Monday so I'll look out for your bald head, and the accent...

[officialluket30]

Hi All,

This is my first time going to Benicassim and I was hoping you'd be able to help with a couple of things.

I've booked an 'easy tent' in the Campfest area and was wondering whether anyone had done this before and how it works on arrival?

I've also followed the advice above about getting a locker and wondered how this works to? Are you able to go to and from the locker as often as you like?

 

Luke

[TheBaldEgg]

4 hours ago, rpfranks said:

Hi mate.

When you get to the campsite they take your passport and wristband number and then they normally take people through in groups of say 8-10 people and they find you somewhere to camp which is in the shade. 

They wont let people just wander off as then people will end up camping in direct sunlight and they have a duty of care to all attendees. Plus it's more potential casualties they'll have to deal with! 

We should be there about 6.30/7pm on Monday so I'll look out for your bald head, and the accent...

They don't hold your passport do they? Just take the number i'm guessing?

anyway, that sounds perfectly fine. I'd rather have to wait to be given a space then just go anywhere.

You won't miss me, the sunlight reflects off it loads. I'll also be camping in a completely black tent (because you know, I'm incredibly smart when buying a tent I opt for a black one just to stay extra warm).

See you there!

[rpfranks]

6 minutes ago, TheBaldEgg said:

They don't hold your passport do they? Just take the number i'm guessing?

anyway, that sounds perfectly fine. I'd rather have to wait to be given a space then just go anywhere.

You won't miss me, the sunlight reflects off it loads. I'll also be camping in a completely black tent (because you know, I'm incredibly smart when buying a tent I opt for a black one just to stay extra warm).

See you there!

Nah just the number. 

Oh mate I took a black tent the first time. Good luck is all I'll say

[rpfranks]

39 minutes ago, officialluket30 said:

Hi All,

This is my first time going to Benicassim and I was hoping you'd be able to help with a couple of things.

I've booked an 'easy tent' in the Campfest area and was wondering whether anyone had done this before and how it works on arrival?

I've also followed the advice above about getting a locker and wondered how this works to? Are you able to go to and from the locker as often as you like?

 

Luke

Hi Luke

dont know about easy tent - we just take our own - But re: lockers. They are open 24 hours and you can come and go as you please. It's situated in Campfest, on the left as you walk in to the camping area. Also there is a phone charging thing and on the right you can pick up bits for the tent 

[officialluket30]

Thanks very much for that.

No doubt I'll have more questions throughout the week.

[ManchesterGlasto]

Hi all.

we are looking to go to Beni next year - but would like a bell tent. Does anyone know how much they cost this year to give us so,etching to go on? And when they went on sale? Cheers. Have a good one guys. 

[simal123]

Any recommendations for how much money to take for the week, or how much per day?

 

[alexwetherell]

Do you have to take your passport to get the wristband? Me and the girlfriend are staying in a hotel, we've bought a 4 day ticket. Don't particularly want to be carrying my passport round with me, and I don't want to waste £15 on a locker... Do they take photocopies?

We're staying in Castellon, otherwise I would just go back to the hotel and drop the passport off, but it's a bit too far to go.

Also, how much is alcohol in the supermarkets and in the arena? We're thinking about pitching a tent in the campsite, and using it as a base whilst at the festival to drink etc (to avoid high costs of arena alcohol) and then going back to the hotel in the mornings for a proper kip, then repeat  

Edited July 5, 2016 by alexwetherell

[andytommo]

1 hour ago, alexwetherell said:

Do you have to take your passport to get the wristband? Me and the girlfriend are staying in a hotel, we've bought a 4 day ticket. Don't particularly want to be carrying my passport round with me, and I don't want to waste £15 on a locker... Do they take photocopies?

We're staying in Castellon, otherwise I would just go back to the hotel and drop the passport off, but it's a bit too far to go.

Also, how much is alcohol in the supermarkets and in the arena? We're thinking about pitching a tent in the campsite, and using it as a base whilst at the festival to drink etc (to avoid high costs of arena alcohol) and then going back to the hotel in the mornings for a proper kip, then repeat  

I've not been asked for my passport once over the past 5 years, when exchanging ticket for wristband. Saying that, I probably will again this year, just in case, as the year you don't have it, is the time they will ask you for it.  When do you arrive? Yo can go up to the festival site any time from Monday, not get your wristband, albeit a bit inconvenient if you're staying in Catellon. Isn't sure of your age, but if you're borderline 18, you'll need your passport to get an over 18s wristband.  Re the drinks, I wouldn't bother setting up a tent to keep drinks there. You could be a half hour round trip from festival entrance to your tent, so I'd just buy €1 cold cans of beer from the lucky men outside the entrance, if you want to avoid the €3 small (€9 large) beers inside. The low £ to € isn't helping the beer kitty this year, I'm afraid to say!!

[andytommo]

3 minutes ago, andytommo said:

I've not been asked for my passport once over the past 5 years, when exchanging ticket for wristband. Saying that, I probably will again this year, just in case, as the year you don't have it, is the time they will ask you for it.  When do you arrive? Yo can go up to the festival site any time from Monday, not get your wristband, albeit a bit inconvenient if you're staying in Catellon. Isn't sure of your age, but if you're borderline 18, you'll need your passport to get an over 18s wristband.  Re the drinks, I wouldn't bother setting up a tent to keep drinks there. You could be a half hour round trip from festival entrance to your tent, so I'd just buy €1 cold cans of beer from the lucky men outside the entrance, if you want to avoid the €3 small (€9 large) beers inside. The low £ to € isn't helping the beer kitty this year, I'm afraid to say!!

P.s. Where does it actually say on this page at you need to have a passport to exchange ticket for wristband? http://fiberfib.com/en/condiciones-generales-ve.php

[rpfranks]

1 minute ago, andytommo said:

P.s. Where does it actually say on this page at you need to have a passport to exchange ticket for wristband? http://fiberfib.com/en/condiciones-generales-ve.php

They don't take your passport number when you exchange ticket for wristband, they usually ask for your passport number when you first enter the campsite.

[rpfranks]

1 hour ago, alexwetherell said:

Do you have to take your passport to get the wristband? Me and the girlfriend are staying in a hotel, we've bought a 4 day ticket. Don't particularly want to be carrying my passport round with me, and I don't want to waste £15 on a locker... Do they take photocopies?

We're staying in Castellon, otherwise I would just go back to the hotel and drop the passport off, but it's a bit too far to go.

Also, how much is alcohol in the supermarkets and in the arena? We're thinking about pitching a tent in the campsite, and using it as a base whilst at the festival to drink etc (to avoid high costs of arena alcohol) and then going back to the hotel in the mornings for a proper kip, then repeat  

Supermarket alcohol is dirt cheap - 70cl Knebep vodka is around 4 euro, you can get 12 small cans of beer for about 2 euro. They do branded stuff but it's upwards of 10 euro for 70cl so we just stick to the cheap stuff, especially with the current exchange rate!

arena alcohol is not. You have to buy tokens which are 3 euro each. 1 token gets you a soft drink or half pint, 3 tokens gets you a litre (2x pints in one cup) or spirit and mixer. 

Edited July 5, 2016 by rpfranks

[rpfranks]

3 hours ago, simal123 said:

Any recommendations for how much money to take for the week, or how much per day?

 

We are doing Monday to Monday and taking about 300-350 euros each. 

But that's with food and drink in the day, supermarket trips and drinks in the arena on the night. 

I've done it before on around 200 without buying many drinks in the arena, but if you want to be pissed you've got to keep dipping in and out as they will thorough search you on entry to the arena.

also bear in mind that the water park (Aquarama) is 25 euros a time.