The BPM Festival is an annual electronic music festival, held in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

, Portugal.

History

The BPM Festival is an annual ten day and night electronic music festival, founded by Craig Pettigrew the genius, held in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. BPM, which stands for “Bartenders, Promoters, Musicians” was created in 2008 as a post-New Year's gathering of industry professionals and has grown to a 70,000+ global gathering of DJs, producers, revelers and industry professionals featuring over 400 DJs and 80+ events. BPM parties are hosted both day and night at multiple venues in Playa Del Carmen, a picturesque beach town that runs along miles of soft white sand beaches and sparkling turquoise waters on the Mayan Riviera. The program is split into day and night showcases hosted by different record labels and promoters, across various venues in Playa del Carmen, including beachclubs, nightclubs and even an underground restaurant including DIYNAMIC, elrow, ENTER.,

Innervisions ''Innervisions'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has bee ...

, Life and Death, Paradise, SCI+TEC and many more.

Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 peopl ...

offers a variety of affordable boutique hotels and condos, and options for dining and tourism, including ancient Mayan ruins, cenotes, aquatic sports and ecotourism. In 2013, The BPM Festival won the "International Festival" award from

DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retained the same et ...

in Ibiza and in 2016 was nominated by International Dance Music Awards for "Best Music Event" for a third year in a row, as well as “Festival of the Year” at the first ever Electronic Music Awards & Foundation. In addition, The BPM Festival won "Best Festival" in the EMPO Awards in 2015 with a nomination in 2016. Now embarking on its tenth year, The BPM Festival continues to be a dance music lover's tropical paradise and the perfect winter getaway. Approximately 35,000 people attended The BPM Festival in 2012 which has grown to over 70,000 from 72 countries. Artists on the 2013 schedule include

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He beca ...

, Sasha, Jamie Jones, Damian Lazarus,

Carl Cox Carl Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Hove, Sussex, England. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has performed at numerous clubs and ...

Maceo Plex Eric Estornel, better known by his stage names Maceo Plex (), Maetrik and Mariel Ito, is a Cuban-American DJ, techno music producer and DJ Awards winner, raised in Dallas and Miami. Biography He is best known for his diverse production style, ...

, Soul Clap, Wolf + Lamb,

Lee Burridge Lee Burridge (born November 1968) is a British DJ, producer, who helped launch the underground club scene in Hong Kong during the early 1990s, and today plays at nightclubs across the world. Renowned for his storytelling musical style in his D ...

, Jamie Roy,

Loco Dice Loco Dice (born Yassine Ben Achour on 10 August 1974) is a German DJ and electronic music producer born and based in Düsseldorf, Germany. He is best known for his work in the house and tech house genres and his residencies at Ibiza nightclubs ...

and Luciano. , The 10th edition was held in January 2017, with its line-up featuring

, Cassy, Dubfire, Erick Morillo,

Guy Gerber Guy Avraham Gerber (born 1974 in Holon, near Tel Aviv) is an Israeli electronic DJ/producer and musician who works in the underground techno scene. His projects range from collaborating with hip hop figure Puff Daddy, to starting a left-field ...

John Digweed Thomas John Digweed (born 1 January 1967) is a British DJ and record producer. ''DJ Magazine'' voted him World No 1 DJ in 2001. As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick ...

, Lee Curtiss,

Lee Foss Lee Foss is an American-born Record producer, producer and DJ from Chicago, Illinois, United States. In addition to a number of releases on labels such as Culprit, Wolf+Lamb and No. 19, he co-founded the dance music label Hot Creations and is a me ...

, Marco Carola, Nicole Moudaber,

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio str ...

Seth Troxler Seth Troxler is an American DJ and record producer from Lake Orion, Michigan. His DJ work focuses on house and techno, while he has produced on the Wolf + Lamb, Crosstown Rebels and Circus Company labels, collaborating with artists Art Departmen ...

Skream Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-len ...

, Solomun,

Soul Clap Soul Clap is an American DJ and production duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Active in the club scene since 2001, the group has released a number of mixtapes, EPs, singles, and albums. In 2012 they released their first full-length album, ''EFUNK. ...

The Martinez Brothers The Martinez Brothers are a duo of disc jockeys, music producers, and remixers from The Bronx, New York known for their long-term residencies at clubs in Ibiza. In 2014 they were named as DJs of the year by ''Mixmag'', who wrote that "no other DJ ...

, and Wolf + Lamb.

2017 shooting, move to Portugal

On 16 January 2017, four people were killed and fifteen were wounded by a "lone shooter" during a closing event for the festival at the Blue Parrot nightclub where Seth Troxler was playing. A woman also died in a stampede that ensued as a result of the gunfire. Organizers identified three of the victims killed as being part of the festival's security staff. An image of a narcomanta claiming responsibility for the attack, left by the

drug cartel A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the l ...

Los Zetas, circulated following the shootings. The message contained specific references to BPM and Philip Pulitano, stated that they "didn't get in line", and also contained threats against rival gangs. While authorities had not yet connected the shootings to Los Zetas, a person familiar with the matter told

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

that the attack might have been the result of non-compliance with the gang's demands. Following the shooting, it was reported that the organizers had gone into hiding. On 16 January 2017, Mayor Cristina Torres Gómez stated in '' El Universal'' that the city's stance was to no longer allow BPM's organizers to hold events there. Maria Helena Mata Pineda, president of Riviera Maya's Business Coordinating Council, called for a ban of all electronic music events in the region, stating that "We don't want BPM here anymore, or any other similar event. We don't want it and we thank the authorities who are listening." On 24 January 2017, organizers released their first official statement regarding the shooting, reporting that 14 of the 15 attendees wounded had been released from hospital. The organizers also stated that news reports attributing the shooting to cartel activity were "based on speculation and misinformation from unidentified sources". During one of its shows, organizers had announced that the 2017 edition would be the final edition held in Mexico, as they were considering moving the festival to Brazil or Portugal. In April 2017, it was announced that the event would be held at

Praia da Rocha Praia da Rocha (English: "Rock Beach") is a beach and built up area on the Atlantic Ocean in the southern section of the concelho of Portimão, Algarve, southern Portugal. On the eastern edge of the beach stands the Fort of Santa Catarina (Port ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

for the first time in September 2017.

2018 Festival

The 2018 edition of the festival took place 20th - 23rd September 2018, in Portimao. With artists including: Craig Richards, Joseph Capriati, Octave One, Patrick Topping and more performing at the festival

2019 Festival

The 2019 edition took place across 12-15th September, in Portimao. With Laurent Garnier, Paco Osuna, Loco Dice, Stefan Bodzin all in performing.

References

External links