I had heard of the BPM but I never knew what to expect. I can’t say that I am the biggest house/electronic music fan in the world, although I have been known to throw it down in quite a few parties here in Canada. I decided that since I was going to be in Playa Del Carmen for New Years, I should check the party out. Mark, an Aussi friend that I met at one of the hostels that I was staying at decided to hop a cab with me to head to Mamitas Beach Club where there was a free beach party going on.
When we got there Mark asked me “how good is this?” I said “It’s very good, very good”. We walked into Mamatas which is an outdoor beach club with white lounge beds, beach chairs and tall tables that can be rented by the hour or free if you buy a bottle or two. We did neither. I had a bag packed with Sol Beer, so we walked over to a tall table and began to consume our own drinks. Out of nowhere a beautiful girl with a Corona outfit approached us and said “Your beers look warm, have these”. She winked at me and placed a stack of cold Corona cans on our table, then walked away. “SWEET”, no cover and free beer, I though. But how could that girl tell that our beers were warm? I figured that since Corono was a sponsor, they didn’t want the competition’s beer anywhere in sight. Either way, that was a welcomed gesture and a great start to the BPM festival.
The DJ played hypnotic house beats from an elevated stage set up right on the beach. Skimpily dressed girls and guys danced on a makeshift dance floor in the sand. Those with money lounged on the beach beds with a few bottles of Grey Goose on ice within arms reach. We stood at our table sipping Coronas and observed the beauty that surrounded us. I decided to take out my cameras from my day pack and began to film what I just couldn’t express in words.
The next day, I decided to try the neighboring beach club named “Kool”. Kool Beach Club was my favourite place to party during the festival. I am not sure what time the party started or ended but I showed up just after noon and stayed until about 7pm. There is a shallow pool in the middle and bar at one end of the pool. Dj’s were spinning from a stage that overlooked an elevated dance floor. “Why don’t you, party all the time”, was blaring from the speakers. Drinks were slightly expensive, but as usual I did a customary Canadian “pre-drink” and walked with a “roady/road mix” in my day pack. The rest is history. All I can say is that the BPM Festival far surpassed my expectations and I really want to go back for the next one which starts on December 31, 2011.
Check out the video for the rest of the story. If you have and questions about the festival feel free to drop me a line.
