Benicassim 2009

FledNanders

Hey
Going to Benicassim this year, flying into Barca on the 16th. Anyone been before? Looking to see how much trains are from Barca and if they're fairly regular?

Also any other random tips/advice/warnings welcome!

Cheers

OH-MY-CANDLE

i'm heading to benicassim for the first time aswell , I'm flying into valencia though, are you planning on camping?

FledNanders

yea we're camping alright. we were looking at getting an apartment but it was working out too expensive. looking forward o the camping anyway! with the REAL people!

OH-MY-CANDLE

:eek:
wowza i think your nuts camping! its gonna b soooo warm! we're going in a big group and some people are camping but most of us are after getting really cheap accommodation, 24 yoyos a night including a shuttle 2 the festival! which is pretty handy like

Stacksey

Was there last year and got a nice appartment a few miles out, your a lunatic if you camp there, appartments are really cheap, got a 3 bedroom for about 400 for the week, swimming pool and all that jazz, the heat is jack nicholaus

bobbyjoe

Was there a few years ago. Make sure to book for the train from Barcelona because it gets full. Saw loads of people stuck (including myself) ended up getting a bus to a town nearby.
The music starts around 8 and goes all night. Sleeping during the day is tough cos its so hot. I'd recommend getting an appartment or hotel cos you need your rest after being up all night and its v hard to sleep in a tent in that heat. I only did one day and took about three to get back to normal again!!
Besides that its a great festival had a crazy time at it. Enjoy.

FledNanders

hmmm, getting bad vibes about the camping buzz. You don't happen to have a link for where you booked your apartments from by any chance? See it's only me and the gf going over so it's not like we have a group to split the cost down

Stacksey

email this girl at Benicassim Travel, she will sort you out with an appartment

laura@benitravel.com

FledNanders

Lovely thanks, I just dropped her a line there

Twee.

Double post

Twee.

I camped for the whole festival last year and then went to Barcelona for a few days as well. Flew in to Valencia and got the official bus to the campsite and then flew home from Barcelona.
It REALLY isn't that awful as long as you know what to expect. It will be hot and humid, but we did get two very over cast days that were a lovely break.
There are loads of tiny grass spiders and bugs, but you get used to them quickly. I would bring bug spray or citronella with you for the night time midges and the likes.
Sleeping was ok, I had my own little room in a four man tent which was nice. Wouldn't like to share with anybody! I brought my own bed pillow and lay on a sleeping bag. If it got a bit cold I had a sheet. (Also handy for fort building :pac:) I also brought ear plugs, came in well handy when you wanted to sleep but no one in a 100 metre radius did....
I'd recommend a little phrase book or dictionary, the locals have very little English. You'll meet people from all over the place, it's such a great experience.
The supermarket is dirt cheap and you can take the trolley as far as the camp entrance, handy for all the crates of beer and water you'll need. We also had a cooler box and chipped in everyday towards the cost of ice. Good for water, booze and chocolate, as well as cheese and yoghurts!
http://www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html is the main Spanish rail service. We booked cheap tickets from Beni to Barcelona, but the journey took nearly five hours. If however, we'd shelled out the forty quid it would have taken just two. Oh yeah, and I stood the whole way. If you wanna beat train madness on the way home leave the day before the camp closes.
That's about all I can think of right now...

FledNanders

cheers for the tips, useful indeed. Ended up booking a hotel in Castellon. Anyone eber stayed there before?

As far as I know there's shuttle buses to the festival prettty much all day, anyone know anything about that?

kallstrom86

This thread is really useful. Has everyone here bought their tickets off ticketmaster? i was just wondering if you've gotten them yet

barongreen

Our group just got the flights sorted, tickets-check, accom in an apartment though we had to book it for a two week block-check. What i d'ont know is whats the best way to get from reus down to benicassim. we arrive on the wednesday so figure it will be busy. any one got advice for this?

Oxidents800

Any1 know if theres any truth in the tickets being sold out, was going to book my flights tomorrow n then get the tickets next week due to fund sand didnt think they'd be sold out yet but dunno know wat to do know, any1 else heard of tickets being sold out......cant get them on ticketmaster anyway??:(:(

FledNanders

Word on other forums is that they are sold out of 4 day with camping. I think they might be selling individual day tickets or 4 day with no camping.

But anyway, there's always ebay other places so you should be ok if you look around a bit

TheBigRedDog

Hey I've booked n ready to go! Cant wait although the tickets seem 2 be sold out n a few mates want to go now.... if anyone has spares PM me PLZ!!!:) Great posts btw very helpful!!

BrianOR

Me too.My friends have all booked but I have missed out and they are sold out now.Any help with tickets would be much appreciated!

BrianOR

Yeah looks like they are sold out.I have been looking at a site called onlineticketexchange.com . Not sure if they are reputable or not and theres a fairly high markup.Does anyone know anything about it?

nxbyveromdwjpg

A quick google search could have answered this lads, it did for me and brought me here -

http://tickets.fiberfib.com/information-benicassim/

Ticketmaster is sold out but there is still a good few around the other agents, the UK ones are only 8pound over or something which with all of ticketmasters brutal fee's is basically the same price.

I got mine off the danish site, which was the cheapest one with an english language option so that I could understand it.

nxbyveromdwjpg

http://fiberfib.com/en/line-up/benicassim-festival-2009/

Buy them from another country. You print your own ticket anyway.

mfield

nm wrote: »

A quick google search could have answered this lads, it did for me and brought me here -

http://tickets.fiberfib.com/information-benicassim/

Ticketmaster is sold out but there is still a good few around the other agents, the UK ones are only 8pound over or something which with all of ticketmasters brutal fee's is basically the same price.

I got mine off the danish site, which was the cheapest one with an english language option so that I could understand it.

Thanks a million for that, my mate was looking for a ticket and pulling his hair out, I went through the UK site for that link and got 4 day pack no camping tickets.

He's well chuffed! Thanks again!

dominicscullion

BrianOR wrote: »

Yeah looks like they are sold out.I have been looking at a site called onlineticketexchange.com . Not sure if they are reputable or not and theres a fairly high markup.Does anyone know anything about it?

Three friends of mine bought <snip> Dublin Gig tickets off OnlineTicketExchange, the tickets didnt arrive through the post, and after a few phone calls the person at online ticket exchange told them to make the 2 hour journey and someone would meet them at the event, nobody showed up and they didnt get into the gig, they havent got their money back, but even if they do, they still travelled that whole distance and missed out, a Disgrace if you ask me you would be safer pissing the money up against the wall. Dont even bother. Was also looking through google and the bloke who runs it is a total crook, had previous sites closed down.

empty_vessal

500 hundred more tickets were released this morning.

I got mine at the following

http://www.seetickets.com/see/event.asp?filler1=see&showcode=370724&n%7Cshowname=coming&filler2=

I need 2 camping tickets for Beni! PLZ HELP!!

barongreen

tickets for the train to benicassim just became availible. these will sell out...

http://www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html

FledNanders

Which station is it best to travel from does anyone know?

Is there a national train station in the airport or is it best to go to Sants?

christeb

Myself and a buddy are thinking of heading over, we know a good few going.

Is there any possibility of getting 4 day tickets (non camping) over there if we arrived maybe on the Wednesday?

iHeartRyanAdams

oh have been looking all!! over the interent for tickets!
the links for other countries isn't looking too good either..
has anyone found any other sites?
really appreciate it..

johnnyboy29

got mine on lastminute.com last year, dont know if they have any left this year. Didnt actually get the e-tickets sent until pretty close to the date.
Main station in valencia is Valencia Nord. Its not massive, and easy enough to get around/change trains. Its also a hub for cercanias(local trains) which only go as far as castellon.
one little tip...if you are trying to get back to valencia from beni, i would suggest going in the opposite direction first to Oropesa del Mar/Orpesa(going couple of minutes further north) and THEN getting the train from there(might be worth it depending on what kind of condition your
in :eek:)Much less people trying to get on, more chance of a seat/comfortable spot.
had an absolutely fantastic time last year, would love to go again this year if finances permitted. Stayed in an apartment right on the beach which cost 150 each for the 4 nights, was worth it for the use of the bed for the few hours during the hottest parts of the day, what we werent told was that the owner was going to be there too and we didnt have the place to ourselves. Still, he was grand, we werent there that often, and we didnt have anyone back, so it worked out fine. have his email address if anyone wants it pm me.
btw Vaelncia is a really cool city and well worth a visit if you have time.had great times in red nest and purple nest hostels

kallstrom86

im confused! The only available train i could find is from tarragona to castellon. I reckon i could get a taxi from castellon to benicassim. its not that far is it?

Anyway I can't book the tickets on the renfe website. I put in all the info and it says contacting the bank and then it doesnt work!!
Has anyone succesfully booked train tickets on renfe? could you help me please?

CRenegade

kallstrom86 wrote: »

im confused! The only available train i could find is from tarragona to castellon. I reckon i could get a taxi from castellon to benicassim. its not that far is it?

Anyway I can't book the tickets on the renfe website. I put in all the info and it says contacting the bank and then it doesnt work!!
Has anyone succesfully booked train tickets on renfe? could you help me please?

Hey Kallstrom, I booked mine and my friends train tickets few days ago on renfe website. Are u flying into Reus Salou aswell? if so think the one of the few trains left is from salou to castellon, which is bout 15 mins drive beyond benni. What exactly happened when bookin ur train tickets and at what stage in the process, ill try help.

kallstrom86

CRenegade wrote: »

Hey Kallstrom, I booked mine and my friends train tickets few days ago on renfe website. Are u flying into Reus Salou aswell? if so think the one of the few trains left is from salou to castellon, which is bout 15 mins drive beyond benni. What exactly happened when bookin ur train tickets and at what stage in the process, ill try help.

It's grand. I got it now. Yeah we're going from Reus to Castellon aswell, i finally figured that out. And i had put the credit card number in wrong. it works perfectly. Thanks for the help anyway.

CRenegade

No probs, when ya headin? Im off to Spain on the Tuesday, stayin in salou in a hostel and then gettin the train down on the wednesday. Should be great.

kallstrom86

We're going on monday. Getting the train straight down to castellon and setting up camp for the week. Sure keep an eye out for the tri-colour.
Have you any idea which is the better campsite?

CRenegade

Will do, we will have a tri-colour flying aswell.
This is my first time going but from reading up on it both sites have good and bad sides.
We gonna stay in Campfib right beside the festival area, basically to be near the music etc.
Some people say not to stay there if ya wanna get bit of sleep cos of noise from music but im not banking on gettin much sleep at nite anyways so that doesnt bother me.
Think the Bennicamp is near Lidl though which is bout 10 min walk from Campfib.

Bluetonic

Live coverage from Benicassim from tonight until Sunday via http://live.fiberfib.com/

Listening to Oasis live at the moment.

lisbon_lions

I would not go back to this event. For the money that we paid, it was sub standard to be honest. Oasis sound was crap, whilst this may not be the fault of the FIB organisers, it was a poor start to the weekend. The large pylon saw around 30 people climb its heights and lead to a safety threat, no security in sight to prevent a possible catastrophe for near 45mins. Night 2 saw high winds and a bush fire near the concert which saw cancellation of the gigs (Kings of Leon headlining) that night. No mention of a partial refund from the organisers for those that bought 4 day tickets. The train station to get out was a dangerous encounter with near stampedes to get out of benni on the Tuesday in 40 degree heat. Several people missed trains and had to seek shelter or accommodation for the night.
The food and general hospitality in the town was poor, several restaurants tried to rip us off on the bill. No taxis during the day.

My advice, have a long hard think before booking your tickets to go to this event next year.

nxbyveromdwjpg

Best festival I've ever been at, and best organised aswell, mainly I think due to absolutely no queing for anything in the festival all weekend.. drinks, food, toilets etc were plentiful and due to the token system there was no delays as there was no tills at all.
In fact the only queing we did as all was once when he had to queue initially for our wristbands but even that was grand because although long the queue moved quickly and so frustration never really got a chance to kick in. The holiday atmosphere of being in Spain and it being the first night probably helped too. Great.

Irish organisers could learn a thing or two but I wont hold my breath.

That was the festival itself, the travel company we stayed with in Opressa (Danesp) was a different story.. biggest group of ***** this side of Al Queda. I'll make my own arrangements next year...

BrianD

My brother was at it and while he had a good time it was a shambles of an organisation. The weather was out of the organisers hands but appaently there was little or no announcement that the Saturday was cancelled (because of weather) because basically there was no sign of anyone in charge. Also the site has pylons through it (odd for a festival) and one apparenty collapsed during the wind storm.

Havin said that he said 2 Many DJ's were fantastic.

TheBigRedDog

One of the best festivals I've ever been at! It was amazing! While a lot of things went wrong, most were unavoidable so that didn't put me off. Speaking of which, the night of the storm was one of the most fun and entertaining of the whole week! Festivals are there for the atmosphere. The music and sound will never be perfect. For me, it's the fact that your celebrating the music with thousands of other people.
We were lucky to arrive, shop, travel and leave at the right times because there was never ques. Considering that there was 40,000+ people there, it is quite a feat to organise the way they did. I found the festival very casual, exactly what is needed in such an event. I second that hint to the Irish promoters! I would definately recommend it!