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Creamfields
After being launched in Liverpool in 1992, Cream became one of Britain's best-known clubs, with sold-out events every week, featuring house music heavyweights such as Paul Oakenfold and Seb Fontaine. It drew crowds from all over the UK and paved the way for the era of the "Superclub". As Superclubs fell out of favour within the UK house scene, Cream diversified rather than die out and launched "Creamfields, the Festival", on the August Bank Holiday of 1998.
Creamfields went international on its first anniversary and has now become a main feature of the clubbing scene, in not only the UK and Ibiza, but also in Ireland, Argentina, Turkey, Mexico City, Moscow, Prague, Santiago (Chile), Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba (Brazil), Poland, and of course, Spain where Creamfields Andalucia began in 2004 and quickly consolidated itself as one of the main dance festivals in Europe.
So is Creamfields Andalucia just a UK party held in Spain? The line-up, featuring headliners of Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy & John Digweed with only the odd inclusion of national DJs and acts would suggest so; however, on arrival at Creamfields Andalucia 2007, it became apparent the Spanish version of Creamfields is, well, pretty Spanish.
From the thousands of people celebrating a botellón (open-air drinking party) on the half-mile walk to the entrance gate to the people camped out on Playa Villaricos, it was clear that Creamfields Andalucia was an event and even if you didn't have a ticket to enter, you could still join the party. It's all a far and refreshing cry from the clampdown in England where over-zealous security and a mountain of procedural issues force a festival out of the price range of its crowd (anyone hear the echo of Glastonbury?), and discourage anyone from travelling to the vicinity of the event to soak up the atmosphere and join in the spirit of things, without actually going into the venue.
With a 40,000 strong crowd in the 2007 event (and up to 5,000 partying outside), Creamfields had more or less doubled in size since the beginning, signalling that in Andalucia at least, there are no signs that dance music is dying. From 2004 to 2007 it was held at Playa Villaricos in Almeria, from 2008 to 2010 it was held on Playa Guardias Viejas in El Ejido, Almeria and in 2011 and 2012 it was held in Jerez de la Frontera at 'El Circuito de Velocidad'. This was the last year, but a very simliar event held and run by different organisers called Dreambeach has been held at the original location in Villaricos.
Look at our Creamfields 2012 for information on what happened that year.
