BEONIX is a leading mix of art, music and culture that takes place in Cyprus and this year it came back with a seance edition that was even better than the debut last year. It happens in late September in Limassol right by the coast so is a superb place to come for some sun and great sounds later in the summer.
This year it was set up at ETKO which was once the city’s biggest winery but has been shut for over 10 years. For this weekend, the team has put in hundreds of hours of work to make it into an adult playground. The whole site has some great street art littered about as well as three stages of music.
The main stage is huge and has cutting edge visual screens and explosive lights and lasers that make for a fine sensory experience. As well as that there is the Hangar Stage, an air-conditioned indoor space that resembles something like the Paintwork’s venue back in London and also there is a place to chill out and enjoy some local talents and that is on the Organic Stage. This year people from all over Europe came and we are told that in all 5000 arrived each day.
Musically the line-up is superb with all corners of the electronic spectrum represented. Some stars for us are ANNA, Brazil’s most famous techno export who didn’t pull any punches, dropping big rolling grooves, hard assed drums, some searing synths Her techno and melodic builds brought in a big crowd in Hangar Stage on the Friday and Jamiie opened the main stage on the closing night with a fresh take on Afrohouse full of warmth and depth.
Black Coffee was always going to be one of the biggest draws and he was. He pulled all sorts of magic out of his bag and even dropped “Music Sounds Better With You” four times over that last half an hour. At the very end of his set the landscape iMAG Display projected text “Support Ukraine”, the crowd cheered and he dropped Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” to finish. It was one of many great memories.
The weather is non stop sun which is great and the site is easy to get about – nothing is a chore and the whole thing is well organised and the people are friendly. There is no event like this in the region so credit to BEONIX for making the huge investment and putting on something so special. There really is no excuse not to check this one out next year.
