A Fire, A Wind Storm and A Helluva MessWednesday 15th – Monday 20th July 2009
Benicassim Festival, Benicassim, Spain
DAY 1: Wednesday: Get In Line
The day had finally come – my first overseas festival and European jaunt travelling with friends! In the past all my journeys had been solo so I boarded the Gatwick Express not knowing what to expect. Benicassim is a music festival that takes place on the coast of Spain. It features some Spanish and mainland European acts but the bulk of the line-up are internationals from the UK and US. This year boasted a sterling timetable including Kings of Leon, Maximo Park, Paul Weller, TV On The Radio, Oasis and more.
I was landing in Alicante then hopping a 4 hour train ride one stop after Benicassim to the beachside resort town of Oropresa. 5 friends and I had rented an apartment there, which included festival bus transfers so we were set. Though you can camp at the festival it seemed easier to rent an apartment as the festival takes place at night due to extreme 30+ degree temperatures during the day, and we didn’t like our chances of finding comfort or sleep in a packed campground in those conditions. However I had taken the cheaper option of flying into Alicante and training it to Oropresa rather than flying into Valencia as my friends had done. I was to arrive first, grab the keys to our new home and be ready and waiting with drinks and nibbles when they arrived at 10:30pm – but not all went to plan…
Landing in Alicante and catching the train were a breeze but once I hit Oropresa with every man and his dog things got ugly. I waited in line for a taxi from the station to our apartment offices for over an hour, mainly as none of the obviously unseasoned travellers before me going to the same place as me would share cabs. An Irish couple behind me also found this odd so we ended up splitting the fare together. I then arrived at the offices to find a 50+ strong queue of people waiting for their keys and linen. I had no choice but to tack myself on the end and wait, as did my friends when they arrived around half an hour after I did. And there we sat. On the pavement. With our backpacks and the rest. For 5 hours.
It’s still unclear as to why it took 5 hours to collect our keys and linen – once inside the office it took only 20 minutes to acquire both. At first sitting outside was a novelty as we got drinks and food and cavorted with fellow festival-goers, swapping stories and taking bets on how long it would take for the next person to come out alive. But after 5 hours it does wear thin and we were mighty glad when the goods were finally received and we made it to our apartment. So after 18 hours of travelling I finally lay my head to rest and dreamt of what was to come: Benicassim – music and fun in the sun.
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