The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (), commonly abbreviated as FIB, is an annual music festival that takes place in the town of Benicàssim, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock, and electronica artists, as well as short films, fashion shows and art.
The festival begins on the second Tuesday of July, which is when the camping grounds open – although music officially commences Thursday afternoon. FIB is notable for having bands play through the night (5 pm8 am) and has three main stages, Las Palmas, Visa, and South Beach Dance, with capacities of approximately 30,000, 15,000 and 8,000, respectively. In 2009, the festival capacity exceeded 50,000; in 2020, more than 150,000 visited the festival over the four days the festival lasted.
History The first FIB took place in 1995. Since then, Benicàssim has been dedicated to rock, pop, and electronic music as well as featuring artists who are a reference on the world stage.
Location FIB is held in the seaside resort of Benicassim (Castellón province) on Costa del Azahar, Valencia, Spain, 92.2 km away from Valencia Airport. Festival goers who have purchased multi-day passes can camp for up to nine days starting the Monday before and ending Tuesday after the festival has ended.
Previous bands Since the first festival in 1995, some of the most notable artists who have played the festival include The Arctic Monkeys, Beck, Blur, The Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Kraftwerk, Ladytron, Morrissey, Oasis, Placebo, Primal Scream, Radiohead, Lou Reed, Ride, Sigur Rós, The Stone Roses, The Strokes, Teenage Fanclub, Paul Weller and Brian Wilson.
2005 Festival The eleventh festival took place on August 5–7, 2005, with The Cure, Keane and Oasis headlining. Underworld were later announced as headliners of the "FIBstart" event on Thursday July 4, supported by The Tears and The Polyphonic Spree. Fischerspooner, !!! and Róisín Murphy headlined the weekend on the Hellomoto Stage, while The Kills, Kaiser Chiefs and The Wedding Present headlined the Fiberfib.com Stage. Other bands playing the festival included Basement Jaxx, The Lemonheads, Hot Hot Heat, Kasabian, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr., LCD Soundsystem, Ladytron, Doves, Egoexpress, Radio 4 and Richard Hawley.
2006 Festival The 12th Benicàssim Festival occurred between 20–23 July 2006. Performers included Franz Ferdinand, The Pixies, Depeche Mode, Placebo, Echo & the Bunnymen, Madness, Morrissey, The Strokes, Scissor Sisters, Babyshambles, Beth Orton, Editors, The Futureheads, We Are Scientists, The Kooks and Art Brut, among others.
2007 Festival The 13th edition of the festival was held on the 19–22 July 2007. For this year's festival (and all subsequent festivals thereafter), there was no Hellomoto Stage, with the Pista Pop stage expanded instead. The line-up was as follows:
Escenario Verde (Main Stage) ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayIggy & the Stooges Bright Eyes Mando Diao Los Planetas Brazilian Girls JoJo De Freq Jonston Aldo LinaresDevo Dinosaur Jr. Wilco Fangoria KlaxonsArctic Monkeys The B-52's Fischerspooner The Magic Numbers Albert Hammond Jr.Muse Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Kings of Leon Unkle The Hives
Fiberfib.com Stage
Afternoon Session FridaySaturdaySundayAntony and the Johnsons Rufus Wainwright Nouvelle Vague OlimpicOs Mutantes Astrud The Clientele Chris AlianoCalexico Animal Collective The Pipettes The Electric City
Night Session FridaySaturdaySundayCarl Craig The Rapture GusGus Vitalic WhoMadeWho Oliver HuntemannThe Human League !!! Ellen Allien Cansei de Ser Sexy DJ Hoze Damien LazarusArmand Van Helden Amy Winehouse Matthew Dear DJ Yoda Simian Mobile Disco
Vodafone FIB Club Stage FridaySaturdaySundayThe Horrors Kiko Veneno OK Go Herman Düne Mirafiori The Unfinished Sympathy The Presets DX7 Digitalism Delon & Dalcan Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius PipCamera Obscura Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Peter Bjorn and John Najwajean Jamie T Dorian Sascha Funke Cielo Lo-Fi-Fnk Cosmo (Bitches Brew)Clap Your Hands Say Yeah The Go! Team Patrick Wolf Peter von Poehl Catpeople Remate & Loco Band Cassius Datarock Tobias Thomas Marc Romboy
Vueling Pista Pop Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayPeople Are Germs Trash Pussies Vacaciones Diyeis Johann Wald Artista Por Confirmar DJJesús Ordovás Jose Maria Rey DJ Lui (The Melting Pot) Bluetonic MaadraassoJuan Demenzial Dorian DJ DJ Rojiblanco HascasoPaco H Potapop Scream Filthy Dukes
2008 Festival The 14th Edition of the festival was held on 17, 18, 19 and 20 July 2008.
Escenario Verde (Main Stage) ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundaySigur Rós Nada Surf Black Lips Mates of State These New Puritans Krakovia DJ Supermarkt Aldo LinaresMy Bloody Valentine Mika Róisín Murphy New York Dolls BabyshamblesGnarls Barkley The Raconteurs The Kills My Morning Jacket The Brian Jonestown MassacreLeonard Cohen Morrissey Siouxsie Morente Omega con Lagartija Nick Vive la Fête
Fiberfib.com Stage FridaySaturdaySundayHot Chip South San Gabriel Erol Alkan Josh Wink The Glimmers The Rumble Strips Vincent Vincent and the Villains El Guincho Danton EepromTricky American Music Club John Acquaviva Booka Shade Heavy Trash Ivan Smagghe The Ting Tings Kiki The Marzipan ManJustice Death Cab for Cutie The National Tommie Sunshine Supermayer Radio Slave Ewan Pearson Calvin Harris El Hijo
Vodafone FIB Club Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayBattles Lightspeed Champion Facto delafé y las flores azules SingleSpiritualized La Casa Azul Fujiya & Miyagi El Columpio Asesino Metronomy Gentle Music Men Chromatics Robert Babicz Tobi NeumannJosé González Eef Barzelay Bracken Lori Meyers Dapuntobeat Manos De Topo Tiefschwarz Ascii.Disco MetopeRichard Hawley Micah P. Hinson Yelle The Courteeners Moriarty Joakim David Duriez Marc Marzenit Jklmno
Samsung Pista Pop Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayTwo Pias DJs El Bueno, El Feo & El Malo DJ Mamarracha Pin & Pon DJs Frankie & AnnetteTomás Fernando Flores Derwinzige Toxicosmos DJ I Was ThereJuan De Pablos Calcetines & Johann Wald Blanca db Lineas Albiés DJsKinki On Air José María Rey
2008 Festival: Saturday Night Fiber
Saturday Night Fiber, a spin-off festival created in 2008, took place on the Saturday night of Benicàssim in Madrid.
2009 Festival On 23 December 2008, two of the four headliners for the 2009 festival were announced as Kings of Leon and Franz Ferdinand. Kings of Leon had previously played the festival in 2007, while Franz Ferdinand headlined in 2006. Tickets were made available at a discounted launch price between 15 December 2008 and 15 January 2009, with a four-day weekend pass available for €160 (£140). This includes full festival entry between 16–19 July, as well as camping between 13–21 July. On 27 January 2009, it was reported that Oasis would also be joining the line-up. On 2 February 2009, NME confirmed that The Killers would be headlining the final night of the festival, with Franz Ferdinand playing Saturday 18 July and Kings of Leon playing Friday 17 July. The article also stated that Oasis would headlining the "FIBstart" event on 16 July 2009. BBC News Online confirmed that Paul Weller would be playing on Friday 17 July. On 26 February 2009, it was announced that The Psychedelic Furs, Friendly Fires, White Lies, The Bishops and Boys Noize had been added to the line-up, with Benicàssim's official website confirming which days the bands would be playing. Further line-up additions were made on 17 March 2009, and again on 2 April 2009. The line-up was as follows:
ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayOasis Aldo Linares Anni B Sweet The Bishops The Coronas Glasvegas Mystery Jets Naive New Beaters No Reply The Walkmen We Are StandardBoys Noize Fight Like Apes The Horrors Joe Crepusculo Magazine Maxïmo Park Nacho Vegas Nudozurdo Paul Weller Yuksek Polly Mackey & The Pleasure PrincipleFranz Ferdinand Aeroplane Bell X1 Elbow Gui Boratto Foals 2 Many DJ's Jose Santiago Lily Allen The Mighty Stef Peaches Ratolines Steve Aoki TadeoThe Killers Catpeople Friendly Fires Klaus & Kinski Late of the Pier Laurent Garnier Lykke Li The Psychedelic Furs TV on the Radio White Lies
2009 festival disruption
On the night of Friday 17 July a large fire broke out in scrubland within a few hundred metres of the festival site.http://benicassimguide.co.uk/earth-wind-and-fire-part-1/ High winds contributed to the difficulty of fighting the fire and caused conditions on many of the stages to become unsafe. As a result, a number of acts including the Kings of Leon, Maxïmo Park, Boys Noize and Yuksek were unable to perform. Tom Tom Club did perform but had to be taken off for their own safety. Maxïmo Park performed the following night following a cancellation by Lily Allen.
Several hundred festival goers had to be evacuated from the campsite to a nearby sports hall. The festival resumed the following day with limited disruption. Glamour model Bianca Gascoigne and Ringtone artist Ross Kent were reported in tabloid newspapers as having "gone missing" but reappeared several days later.
2010 Festival
Escenario Verde (Main Stage) ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayKasabian Ray Davies Charlotte Gainsbourg Broken Bells Southern Arts Society The Paris RiotsVampire Weekend Hot Chip DJ Shadow Julian Casablancas Fionn Regan Triángulo De Amor BizarroThe Prodigy The Specials Ian Brown Klaxons Ash Gentle Music MenGorillaz Dizzee Rascal Lily Allen Leftfield The Courteeners Standstill
Fiberfib.com Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayThe Temper Trap Love Of Lesbian Magnetic Man El Hijo Skream Benga Cohete PuggyGoldfrapp Calvin Harris Mumford & Sons Boys Noize Timo Maas Sr. Chinarro Alondra Bentley DelorentosPiL The Sunday Drivers Cut Copy Bigott Alex Under The Japanese Popstars Chuchillo The RuskinsEcho & The Bunnymen Foals Midnight Juggernauts Efterklang Two Door Cinema Club Prins Thomas Funkagenda I Blame Coco
Eastpak FIB Club Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayBrendan Benson Scratch Perverts Dirty Projectors Joris Voorn Phil Kieran Jack L Chin YiPeter Hook (performing Unknown Pleasures) Ilegales The Haçienda Night (featuring Graeme Park, DJ Pierre & Justin Robertson) Yacht & The Straight Gaze jj Cola Jet SetThe Cribs Four Tet (live) The Clientele Deadelus Motor Jonston Aaron Wright & The Aprils Ryan SheridanLindstrøm & Christabelle Yuksek Ellie Goulding The Pinker Tones Jack Beats Parade Marcus Doo & The Secret Family Kidd Ross
Due to illness, Lily Allen's Sunday set was canceled and Ellie Goulding was moved up to replace her. Roy Pridmore was a late addition to the bill.Lily Allen pulls out of Benicassim International Festival
2011 Festival Maravillas Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayThe Streets Plan B Pendulum Paolo Nutini Russian Red LayaboutsThe Strokes Brandon Flowers Elbow Friendly Fires Nudozurdo Atom RhumbaArctic Monkeys Mumford and Sons Primal Scream Lori Meyers Tame Impala McenroeArcade Fire Portishead Noah and the Whale Catpeople Pigbag The Coronas Fiberfib.com Stage ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayLesser Gods Henry Saiz Jack Beats Chase and Status Congotronics vs. Rockers Julieta Venegas Antilles The SpiresMary Anne Hobbs The Juan MacLean James Murphy The Stranglers Herman Dune The Paris Riots Ainara LeGardon Jane JoydDerrick Carter Fake Blood Big Audio Dynamite Beirut Bombay Bicycle Club Astrud and Col-lectiu Brossa Nadadora Jerry Fish and the Mudbug ClubGesaffelstein Roska Tinie Tempah The Go! Team Professor Green The Joy Formidable Antonia Font Los Eterno Fib Club ThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayCrystal Fighters Dorian Anna Calvi Guille Milkway DJ Set Grupo Salvaje Aldo Linares Gasteiz GangThe Undertones The Morning Benders Zombie Zombie The Marzipan Man O Emperor DJ Rojiblanco Mondo Sonoro DJ's The 1945Amable Star Slinger Spectrals Smile Logo Los Ginkas Sunta TempletonHidrogenesse Anika Chris Geddes DJ Set And So I Watch You From Afar Aldo Linares Indienella
Jack Daniels Stage Saturday The Dandies
2012 Festival