One day we were painting away, nearing completion after transforming 12 rooms and bathrooms from a garish orange to simple white when the Guardia Civil stopped outside. Bemused, we went over for a chat, only to realise they were both curious about the new developments at Benali but they were also checking cars headed to the nearby music festival.
Great we thought! Fancy living so far out in the sticks but still having a music festival around the corner. After speaking with numerous police, the town hall and passers by, we had mixed reviews. Apparently it was a heavy metal, drug fueled, noise disturbance which had no license to take place and disturbed “the mountain.” Others said it was jazz and house and so the gossip continued and cars, vans and trucks continued to tumble past Benali as we neared the weekend. Late on the Friday afternoon we heard faint dub and reggae beats gliding up the valley and decided to check it out for ourselves. Paint brushes down for the afternoon, a few rums to wake us up, we followed the noise and true to form, a music festival had indeed been erected in the middle of a valley, deep in the Valencian mountains.
With views of the sea (45km away), circus tents for the hardcore dance, a wafting sail for the trance area and a treehouse style reggae lounge, it looked great. It was free, there was a small bar and the people were lovely. Luckily it was dry, or things would have been messier but from what we experienced it was clean, comfortable and a chance to get our groove on. We returned during Saturday daytime when things were quieter but still children, teenagers, adults and dogs filled the various zones, enjoying the tunes and the sun.
Freektion (as the festival was named) offers a platform for local arts and crafts, promotes free entertainment and works with the environment, endorsing the local area, routes and bike trails. Considering we are probably it’s nearest neighbour and it certainly didn’t affect our quality of life in a negative way, we support what they are trying to offer and hope that in the future, an agreement can be made regarding achieving a license.
We later met the man who happened to own the rest of this area and he informed us that he happily lent part of his land to the festival organisers as long as they didn’t cause any permanent damage and cleaned up after themselves completely. Fair enough conditions we feel in return for a free plot from which to host an event. What a great guy!
Let’s see what next year brings!
Mountain reggae One day we were painting away, nearing completion after transforming 12 rooms and bathrooms from a garish orange to simple white when the Guardia Civil stopped outside.
