By: Irina Kotik
It’s time to remind you to clear your agenda for January 2016 and get ready for another unforgettable BPM Festival, the 10-day-and-night party marathon that became an essential stop on the festival circuit for dance music enthusiasts with a passion and discerning taste for quality electronic dance music. With just about 4 months to go before the festival opens its arms for thousands of universally gathering DJs, producers, promoters, dance music lovers, and other industry professionals, transforming the scenic beach town of Playa Del Carmen into a 10-day dance around the clock massive tropical extravaganza, January 8-17th, 2016.
New for 2016, the BPM Festival has reinvented its official crest, featuring the Black Jaguar, in the form of traditional mask. Festival proceeds will help to protect and support exotic cat rescue from the tourism trade in Mexico.
While waiting for the ninth edition artist line up, bringing BPM veterans and a new never disappointing talent, we are offering you a guide to be prepared and get most out of your trip to BPM.
BPM Festival History
The BPM Festival is an annual world-class electronic music festival which takes place in picturesque Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It started in 2008 as an elite industry networking event and was originally planned as a celebration for “Bartenders, Promoters, and Musicians” (hence, BPM). The festival quickly became popular and exponentially morphed into a prestigious podium for artists to show their skills, test new sounds, have a chance to hear a new music before anyone else, or to see a rising star before they are famous.
Getting There
The BPM festival is connected with Orbitz.com, where cheap flight tickets to the nearest international airport in Cancun, Mexico, can be purchased.
Airfare from Miami this year is about $250 while flights from New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles ran $350 – $600. The absolute cheapest way to book a flight is using Avios award miles, SkyMiles or points. As an example, direct round trip award flight from New York can be purchased for 20,000 miles and $74.00 taxes. Airfares are also can be booked via the following:
https://travel.thebpmfestival.com/flights
http://www.kayak.com/flights
https://www.google.com/flights/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Flights-g150812-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula-Cheap_Discount_Airfares.html
There are several options for ground transportation to Playa del Carmen, which is approximately 35 km south of the Cancun airport and about 45 min to one hour drive. Private transfers require reservations and may also need full pre-payment by Paypal or credit card but options are available for ADO bus, private and shared vans upon arrival. The best and most affordable option we would recommend is the ADO bus which stops in front of the terminal. At $150 pesos ( about $12) each way the bus is clean, air-conditioned and runs almost every 30 minutes. It’s easy ride to the Playa bus station located on 5th Ave and Juarez.
http://www.cancun-airport.com/public-buses.htm
http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carmen-info-arriving.html
Where To Stay
There are a huge amount of options for accommodations within Playa del Carmen but those intending on booking something need to move quickly. It is really hard to find something nice and affordable during the festival so we would suggest not to arrive without having booked somewhere first. Since Playa Del Carmen is a tourist town, there is variety of luxurious and affordable boutique hotels. One of the suggested options is to rent a large apartment or villa that will house your entire group of friends and provide convenience of extra bed and kitchen.
Hotels can be reserved via BPM festival travel portal, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet’s and New York Magazine’s Playa Del Carmen hotel recommendations:
BPM Festival Travel Portal hotel listings
Frommer’s Playa del Carmen hotel listings
Lonely Planet’s Playa del Carmen hotel listings
New York Magazine’s Playa del Carmen recommendations
BPM Tickets or Wristband
After making your flight and accommodation arrangements you may want to take care of buying your ticket to the actual party. The wristband guarantees re-entry to any event that is part of BPM, including sold-out/capacity events, as well as line bypassing priveledges. It will give comfort and a peace of mind for those who are planning to run a party marathon in style. VIP wristbands can be purchased at www.bpm.wantickets.com when available ( unfortunately early bird 10-Day festival VIP pass has already been sold out). On the other hand, if you know which events you are planning to attend, and aren’t too concerned about party being sold out, more economical per our opinion is to go with individual tickets ($15-40), either online or at the door. Regular tickets will be available for purchase upon release of line up.
OFF BPM
Perfect escape to decompress from the frenetic energy of the festival is Tulum. One of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans; Tulum is only one hour away from Playa del Carmen. Keep an eye for intimate villa parties and various pop-up events in private villas, rented houses and beach side hotels. We will compile an Off-BPM party guide with not-to-be-missed performances and soirées when parties are announced.
Additional Tips
1. Bring positive energy and take proactive approach to plan your parties considering exciting events happening 24/7.
2. Spend at least one morning at Blue Venado Club watching the Caribbean sun rise and dancing on the softly sloping white sand beach. One of the best BPM 2015 festival venues, located about 30 minutes outside of the Playa del Carmen and accessible only by car, was unfortunately shot down by local authorities during Innervisions Showcase.
3. Make sure to agree on a fare with the driver before making any trips. Cab drivers will try to work in their best interest to make money off of you.
4. Travel with trusted friends and stay on the main roads when coming home late. Last year the number of reported incidents was unexpectedly high.
5. Don’t get disappointed when a party gets shut down. Keep positive attitude and enjoy the BPM festival in style. It’s a dance music marathon, not a sprint!