No More Heineken - Lots more FIB
It seems that the international brewery, is pulling the plugs as the main sponsor for Festival International de Benicassim, the highest-profile of Spain’s summer music festivals.
The past 10 years has seen Heineken as main sponsor of Benicàssim and they tried to insist that the media in Spain and abroad referred to the event as FIB Heineken. In the UK it was always simply known as Beni or Benicassim. It is now reverting to its original monicker, FIB, or festival internacional de Benicàssim, though it will still be Benicassim to its English fans.
Vince Power, the pioneer Irish festival promoter who also stages Hop Farm in the UK, took full control of FIB this year, after three years working with the founders MARAWORLD who started the festival in 1994. Attendance this year fell to 127,000, from last year’s record 200,000, though this probably had more to do with the line-up (which this year included Gorillaz, Kasabian, the Specials, the Prodigy, P.I.L, Ray Davies, Echo and the Bunnymen and Dizzee Rascal) than the blamed economic crisis.
Heineken stressed that it will remain very active in the live Spanish music scene, promoting the June 21 Heineken Music Day, Heineken Music Selector, Heineken Greenspace in Valencia, and the international jazz festival Heineken Jazzaldia in San Sebastian and said its decision followed “10 successful years during which FIB Heineken has become one of the most important festivals on the international circuit.”
Let’s see what the future brings and what the Green Stage, named after the brewer’s green bottles, will become - whatever happens, we’ll be there!
The 17th edition of the Festival will be held from the 14th to the 17th of July 2011 in Benicàssim’s concert venue. Loyal Fibers will have the opportunity to buy next year’s tickets for a special price in the upcoming days.
