Benicàssim: The Greatest Music Festival in Europe – Getting There
The small town of Benicàssim brings the world’s greatest artists, dedicated music fans and thrill-seekers together for 4 days of amazing music, sun, sea, and sand.
I’ve always loved listening to music, whether it is on the way to work or when I studied for exams in school, but I would never classify myself as an avid music fan.
Sure, I’ve heard of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I know a lot of their most famous songs. Oasis’ Wonderwall is a classic that everyone knows but I thought he said “baby you’re gonna be the one that saves me”, not “maybe”.
I suppose the easiest way to summarise my relationship with music is that I am a jack of all trades and master of none, I’ll probably recognise a song you sing but not know who it’s by and what year it was released.
Then comes in Festival Internacional de Benicàssim. I hadn’t heard about it previously but the festival has been going on for some years now.
I had just graduated college, my internship was concluding and the showguide I was editing for an event in work had finally hit its deadline date – I was in dire need of a holiday!
Anticipating that I would indeed be in dire need for a holiday I started booking my ticket, flights, and bus transfers early so as to avoid paying hiked prices closer to the date!
The festival was unlike anything I have ever experienced before in my life. I read up on the festival a lot but nothing prepared me for it, which is both a good and bad thing. Regardless, here is my ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BENICÀSSIM – A 4 part series that will provide you every ounce of information you will ever need to know!
Packing Essentials:
So there are many different ways to do FIB: Campfest, Glamping, Villacamp, Hotel, Air B&B, the list goes on. Each variation of camping requires lesser necessities and generally becomes easier the fancier you go.
Let’s start off with Campfest. Campfest is FIB in its purest form. All that greets you when you arrive is a square patch of dirt where you have to setup your tent. In another article I will tell you how to camp like a pro at FIB, but right now let’s focus on the packing essentials for Campfest.
Your Tent: If you are going to be staying at Campfest you are going to need to bring your own tent. There is a camp shop on the campsite itself that sells tents but if you wish to bring your own then it is a necessity.
If you want enough space to change, sleep, and stor
e your belongings then a four man tent between two people is perfect. We used the ProAction 4 Man Dome tent – the exact tent you see in the photograph. It had loads of space, was durable, and super easy to setup! Plus it fit perfectly into our carry-on suitcase – which was smaller than the standard carry-on suitcase!
If you are a group of 3 then a four man tent will be fine but if you will be four people sharing a tent then I have to encourage you to get a 6 man tent, otherwise the thought of sleeping outside on the rocky, dusty ground will be far more appealing than sleeping in that tent. The general rule to follow is to always get a tent made for at least one more person than you are going with!
When it comes to what you sleep on well then that comes down to you want/can put up with. I hadn’t a clue what to bring over with me and eventually settled on buying a lilo (inflatable pool bed) from the camping shop on site.
This wasn’t ideal but it was alright for me. Others with injuries or poor backs wouldn’t survive because those lilos are not reliable and will deflate overnight.
If you are planning on sleeping on a lilo then bring a ground mat with you. It will cushion out the jagged stones that you will be sure the feel on your back when you wake up in the morning and find your lilo has deflated.
Another option beyond the lilo and ground mat combination is an inflatable air bed – ground mat optional. The camping shop again sells these on the campsite but if you already have one then why not bring it with you?
The camping shop will also inflate the airbeds and lilos they sell but I’m sure if you walk up to them with a fiver in hand then they will be happy to inflate yours for you.
When I go back next year I will intend on bringing mine and inflating it there – it will sure lead to a more comfortable stay.
Check-On Luggage
If you are getting the standard Ryanair or Easyjet flight and are packing a tent, air-bed, and toiletries then a checked bag will definitely be worth it.
Between the tent and the check on luggage it worked out the same price for my girlfriend and I if we had booked our tent over there with Bluecamp, so don’t be thinking it is financially insensible and not worth it, plus you get to bring all of your toiletries which is a major advantage.
Toiletries
Toiletries in Spain aren’t cheap and if you are to buy shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, hand sanitiser (you’ll need it trust me) and deodorant then it will begin to add up significantly, and if you plan on bringing make-up then a checked on bag is essential.
When it comes down to what toiletries to bring, everything you would bring away on a standard holiday would be included in this list along with a loofah, even if you mightn’t normally use one, hand sanitizer, sun-block, and a manicure set – nail clippers, tweezers and scissors come in pretty useful. Dry shampoo is also quite a bonus if you bring it.
You will find yourself doing most of your washing in the showers between shaving, manicuring yourself, and brushing your teeth. After a few days the showers can get a little bit dirty, so bringing a soap bag where you can store your toiletries in just make the whole process that bit easier.
Speaking of the showers, you will more than likely be showering in your swimwear, accept this fact before you go over and don’t be timid when it comes to washing yourself, no one cares and everyone is in the same position.
You will also be showering in flip-flops so remember to pack a pair or else you’ll be sorry. When walking back from the shower to your tent you are walking across sandy ground so dust will kick back up onto your legs – so be sure to pack a couple packs of baby wipes to give the bottom of your legs and feet the once over before putting your shoes on.
Clothes
When it comes to the clothes you will wear at Benicàssim I can’t recommend cotton shorts highly enough. Go to your local Primark or Penneys store before you fly away and stock up on these wonderful shorts that are light, airy and super comfortable in the 30+ degree heat. Don’t be the fool that wears jean shorts during the day and whatever you do avoid, long trousers at all costs, they will only just eat up space in your suitcase. Go crazy and set the knees free!
While in Penneys – or a similar cheap clothing store – pick up lots of underwear and lots of white t-shirts for the day time. I opted for white because they are the best at reflecting heat but obviously when it comes to the colour that is up to you.
Festivals are a wonderful place where you can express your own style and attire and obviously you are going to want to express it! Just save it for the night time when the sun goes down. My absolute favourite time of the day was the hours of 7pm – 6am in the morning.
When the sun goes down and you just had your second shower of the day you feel completely revitalised and ready to party! Now is a good time to wear your nice top or your choreographed outfit. If you try to wear your nice clothes during the day you will end up having them stinking and ruined by sun-block.
All-in-all you should have multiple pairs of shoes including a pair of flip-flops and no less than two towels to alternate between beach and shower towels. They will dry off so you don’t need to worry about wet towels but by the end of the week they will get dirty so whatever you do, don’t be bringing your Gucci €300 towel!
Charging Your Phones
You will find that electricity becomes as valuable as gold when you’re in Campfest. For €3 + a €5 deposit you can rent out a power bank that will roughly get your phone to 30/40% battery. You can also buy a FIB branded power bank for €18 and get them charged for €3.
I went without my phone for four days and the only thing that I missed about that was not being able to take all the photographs I wanted. I brought three power banks away with me and they lasted me three and a half days – granted I used it for music for hours in the campsite and the odd google maps exploit, but generally they won’t last.
If you absolutely must have power in your phone then invest €20 in a 20,000 mAh power bank because you will be far better off doing that then using the power banks at FIB. There will not be power sockets located around the camp that you can use, so anything other than small electronic devices and your phone that require charging – forget about it.
The following list of items are not as much essential items but more so handy-to-have items: an extra torch, toilet roll, bags for dirty linen, and playing cards.
If you aren’t staying at Campfest then you won’t need as many of these items. If you are still camping but have the tent already made for you on your arrival then obviously you are good to leave the tent at home and the fancier you go the least you’ll need, except for the little extras like baby wipes to wash your feet!
Travelling
Getting There: There are multiple ways to get to Benicàssim. The website itself is pretty good at providing you with information to get there and they even offer special tickets which combine both bus and your festival ticket.
The majority of people fly into one of the big Spanish airports – Madrid or Barcelona and catch some form of public transport onwards from there whether it is by train or bus.
We flew into Madrid Airport from Dublin and then got a bus with Avanza from Mendéz Alvaro to Benicàssim. As far as comfort goes, the Ryanair flight was 2 hours and 30 minutes from Dublin to Madrid so it wasn’t a bother.
The 5 hours and 30 minutes bus wasn’t too bad either. The Avanza bus we got was an express bus and it was super spacious, had a toilet, and amazingly – had tv screens in the seats with some pretty up-to-date movies and tv shows that would put respectable airlines to shame.
Navigating Madrid Airport
It was pretty easy to get from Madrid Airport to Méndez Alvaro bus station. When coming from the UK or Ireland you will more than likely be landing in Terminal 1. To get to the bus station simply follow the signs for the transfer bus between terminals. The bus is free and comes every ten minutes.
Get the bus to terminal 4 and from there catch either the metro or train. If you are catching the metro then you will have to get two trains to get to the bus station, so I recommend the train. It is cheaper, more comfortable with bags, and goes direct.
The train line you will get is C1 from the airport to Méndez Alvaro. It is around 7 stops and 20-25 minutes.
Méndez Alvaro Bus Station
When you get to Méndez Alvaro bus station there are a lot of different bus companies that operate out of the station.
Make sure if you book your ticket with Avanza that you know if your bus to Benicàssim is a normal or express bus. The express bus is usually around €15 more expensive but it will more come down to the time you wish to catch your bus rather than what service Avanza runs that will determine what bus you get.
Overall our bus ticket came to around €80. Use the huge timetable board that is available in the station to figure out which terminus to go to and you should be fine.
We found the bus station to be a bit hectic and not well organised so be prepared for this. When the buses come into the terminus check your ticket for which “coche” (coach), you need to get and whether yours is an express or normal bus.
Like I said before the buses are not as bad as you think. Having a tv screen to stare at makes a big difference in feeling the effects of a long driving trip. Be sure to bring wired headphones as opposed to Bluetooth headphones though because the tv screens can’t connect to Bluetooth headphones. Still… Breaking bad is just as good with subtitles so it was ok!
Arriving in Benicàssim
When you get into Benicàssim you might find yourself a little lost and without a clue on where to go! By the time I got to Benicàssim my suitcase’s wheels didn’t work and had no handle. What resulted was my shifting a 20kg suitcase nearly 2km and almost dying.
So when you get into Benicàssim look out for the Blue Line bus service that goes from the bus stop to Campfest in a circle route. You will become very familiar with this bus route as the festival goes on but for now you should try and see if you can find a bus stop that will have a sign indicating that the blue bus line stops at that stop.
If you decide to walk it then please do so at your own peril when carrying luggage. It can be quite hot depending on the time of day you arrive and there is a possibility you will have already been travelling for numerous hours and will be quite tired. If you do however decide to walk it then please follow this google map directions to get to the campsite.
Setting up your tent
When you finally get to the campsite and despite all of your travelling you will have to wait in around three queues before you can setup your tent. The first queue is to exchange your Benicàssim ticket for your wristband.
Your wristband will become essentially your passport for the whole event, granting you access to the campsite and to the arena for when the festival actually begins. Whatever you do, don’t try remove this wristband until you’re back home!
That’s the first queue which honestly should only be short and more than likely you’ll just walk up to the desk and get your wristband on you straight away!
You then have to wait in a queue to get into the camp site where you’ll join another group of people after saying how many tents are in your group. This group of people will become your camping neighbours for the next few days.
When they are ready one of the workers at Benicàssim will bring you to the area of the campsite where you can setup your tent.
Honestly we found this part to be a bit hectic. Whether it was because we were tired after travelling or frustrated at trying to setup a tent in the dark, we felt this part could’ve been organised a little better.
Be prepared for setting up your tent along with 30 other people in near darkness. Keep track of all your bags and suitcase just incase. You will also have to attempt to keep to some form of structure so you might have the volunteers asking you to move your tent to a certain spot to which you’re best of replying that you will when you’ve setup your tent.
I think this article has covered enough about travelling to Benicasim and getting setup but it is only the first of a complete series on the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim! For the second part of the series read all about the Campfest campsite at Benicàssim and what to expect.
