First Time Festival: Bilbao BBK Live

Tuesday, July 16, 2013
I've been promising this post for a wee while, so here it is -  Bilbao BBK Live!



Bilbao is a city located in the north Basque region of Spain where this quaint little festival is held. I wouldn't say Bilbao is the most beautiful city as it has a lot of industrial buildings in the center, BUT, the scenery from where the festival was set was just beautiful. The campsite was right on top of the hills of Kobetamendi-and as you can see from picture 8 (which I used noooo filter on at all by the way), the views were absolutely breath-taking.

 
Peggy Sues Diner in Town (which serves amaaazing American diner food & milkshakes *drool*).


Pink lemonade for me & cookies & cream milkshake for Maisie


Front row for Vampire Weekend!

   
Waiting on the legend that is Fatboy Slim to perform (with lots of neon paint on our faces)


Before the most amazing set ever by Two Door Cinema Club!


Biffy Clyro whos performance we missed, sad times


Beautiful sunset at the campsite!

   
Bilbao BBK wristbands and a slight tan


Larrabasterra Beach

I'm still recovering with a case of the 'post-festival blues' and being back in my little quiet town in France is a change from the crazy weekend I've had. That said, I am very happy to be back in my nice cozy bed and a warm shower. I think that's the nature of the whole camping thing though- you learn how to cook, clean and take care of yourself, with very little supplies and coping without things you normally take advantage of having at home. The people of Bilbao were lovely, welcoming, and as helpful as they could be- considering my Spanish is, let's say, rather poor...it is such a beautiful language though. I learned the word cheese while I was there, which is queso...how amazing is that? Even the most basic word and it sounds like a wee poem.


 Smiling despite dying in the heat


 
Typical tourist shots of sculptures outside the Guggenheim museum... how cool is that flowery dog though?

The highlights from the weekend include: a huge club sandwich at 'Peggy Sues diner' after a long day at the Guggenheim museum, going to the beach for the first time in about 2 years (Larrabasterra, pictured above), actually enjoying Green Days amazingly entertaining set, raving like a nutter to Fatboy Slim (so much respect for that man, he is GOD I tell you), fulfilling one of my dreams seeing KINGS OF LEON and getting on someone's shoulders about two rows away from the Followhill's (it was a beautiful moment), seeing Two Door Cinema Club's set at 2am, jumping around like mad and having so much fun, being slightly tipsy on rosé and joining in on the end of Depeche Mode's set...the beautiful sunshine, views and Spanish boys - SO. MUCH. EYE. CANDY.

And the lowlights? Well, I don't want to bring any negativity into this but I promise to be 100% honest on my blog so in short - the festival should have been a bit better organised wristband-wise (ahem, you'll understand if you were there), things weren't very well explained and there was a lot of confusion for everyone. Also, my tent was way too small and not having a cooler box...no cooler box= gooey cheese, soggy ham, melted Milka chocolate (ended up using it as choc spread anyway) and warm wine...smart move Lucie, smart move. Ah well, it was my first festival - can't be perfect first time around.

So that's it - the first festival over! I would definitely recommend going to Bilbao BBK Live. It's great for first-time festivals or regular festival-goers that want to escape the grey British weather and try something different. One other great thing about Bilbao BBK is that the music doesn't start until the evening so you have all day to relax, explore Bilbao, or top up on your tan. It's kind to your wallet too- it only cost me £90 (for the tickets alone) and for all the amazing bands I saw, great times I had plus scorching sunshine, it was totally worth it! I am officially in love with festivals!

If you want more info about Bilbao BBK Festival, check out their site here.

videos