# Festival Internacional de Benicàssim

The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (Valencian pronunciation:), 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 pm–8 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, Radio 4 and Richard Hawley.

## 2006 Festival

The 12th Benicàssim Festival occurred between July 20–23, 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 July 19–22, 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)

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Iggy & the Stooges Bright Eyes Mando Diao Los Planetas Brazilian Girls JoJo De Freq Jonston Aldo Linares | Devo Dinosaur Jr. Wilco Fangoria Klaxons | Arctic 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

| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Antony and the Johnsons Rufus Wainwright Nouvelle Vague Olimpic | Os Mutantes Astrud The Clientele Chris Aliano | Calexico Animal Collective The Pipettes The Electric City |

#### Night Session

| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Carl Craig The Rapture GusGus Vitalic WhoMadeWho Oliver Huntemann | The Human League !!! Ellen Allien Cansei de Ser Sexy DJ Hoze Damien Lazarus | Armand Van Helden Amy Winehouse Matthew Dear DJ Yoda Simian Mobile Disco |

### Vodafone FIB Club Stage

| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| The Horrors Kiko Veneno OK Go Herman Düne Mirafiori The Unfinished Sympathy The Presets DX7 Digitalism Delon & Dalcan Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip | Camera 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

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| People Are Germs Trash Pussies Vacaciones Diyeis Johann Wald Artista Por Confirmar DJ | Jesus Ordovas Jose Maria Rey DJ Lui (The Melting Pot) Bluetonic Maadraasso | Juan Demenzial Dorian DJ DJ Rojiblanco Hascaso | Paco 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)

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Sigur Rós Nada Surf Black Lips Mates of State These New Puritans Krakovia DJ Supermarkt Aldo Linares | My Bloody Valentine Mika Róisín Murphy New York Dolls Babyshambles | Gnarls Barkley The Raconteurs The Kills My Morning Jacket The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Leonard Cohen Morrissey Siouxsie Morente Omega con Lagartija Nick Vive la Fête |

### Fiberfib.com Stage

| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Hot Chip South San Gabriel Erol Alkan Josh Wink The Glimmers The Rumble Strips Vincent Vincent and the Villains El Guincho Danton Eeprom | Tricky American Music Club John Acquaviva Booka Shade Heavy Trash Ivan Smagghe The Ting Tings Kiki The Marzipan Man | Justice Death Cab for Cutie The National Tommie Sunshine Supermayer Radio Slave Ewan Pearson Calvin Harris El Hijo |

### Vodafone FIB Club Stage

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Battles Lightspeed Champion Facto delafé y las flores azules Single | Spiritualized La Casa Azul Fujiya & Miyagi El Columpio Asesino Metronomy Gentle Music Men Chromatics Robert Babicz Tobi Neumann | José González Eef Barzelay Bracken Lori Meyers Dapuntobeat Manos De Topo Tiefschwarz Ascii.Disco Metope | Richard Hawley Micah P. Hinson Yelle The Courteeners Moriarty Joakim David Duriez Marc Marzenit Jklmno |

### Samsung Pista Pop Stage

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Two Pias DJs El Bueno, El Feo & El Malo DJ Mamarracha Pin & Pon DJs Frankie & Annette | Tomás Fernando Flores Derwinzige Toxicosmos DJ I Was There | Juan De Pablos Calcetines & Johann Wald Blanca db Lineas Albiés DJs | Kinki 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 December 23, 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 December 15, 2008 and January 15, 2009, with a four-day weekend pass available for €160 (£140). This includes full festival entry between July 16–19, as well as camping between July 13–21. 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:
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Oasis Aldo Linares Anni B Sweet The Bishops The Coronas Glasvegas Mystery Jets Naive New Beaters No Reply The Walkmen We Are Standard | Boys Noize Fight Like Apes The Horrors Joe Crepusculo Magazine Maxïmo Park Nacho Vegas Nudozurdo Paul Weller Yuksek Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principle | Franz Ferdinand Aeroplane Bell X1 Elbow Gui Boratto Foals 2 Many DJ's Jose Santiago Lily Allen The Mighty Stef Peaches Ratolines Steve Aoki Tadeo | The 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. 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)

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Kasabian Ray Davies Charlotte Gainsbourg Broken Bells Southern Arts Society The Paris Riots | Vampire Weekend Hot Chip DJ Shadow Julian Casablancas Fionn Regan Triángulo De Amor Bizarro | The Prodigy The Specials Ian Brown Klaxons Ash Gentle Music Men | Gorillaz Dizzee Rascal Lily Allen Leftfield The Courteeners Standstill |

### Fiberfib.com Stage

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| The Temper Trap Love Of Lesbian Magnetic Man El Hijo Skream Benga Cohete Puggy | Goldfrapp Calvin Harris Mumford & Sons Boys Noize Timo Maas Sr. Chinarro Alondra Bentley Delorentos | PiL The Sunday Drivers Cut Copy Bigott Alex Under The Japanese Popstars Chuchillo The Ruskins | Echo & The Bunnymen Foals Midnight Juggernauts Efterklang Two Door Cinema Club Prins Thomas Funkagenda I Blame Coco |

### Eastpak FIB Club Stage

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Brendan Benson Scratch Perverts Dirty Projectors Joris Voorn Phil Kieran Jack L Chin Yi | Peter Hook (performing Unknown Pleasures) Ilegales The Haçienda Night (featuring Graeme Park, DJ Pierre & Justin Robertson) Yacht & The Straight Gaze jj Cola Jet Set | The Cribs Four Tet (live) The Clientele Deadelus Motor Jonston Aaron Wright & The Aprils Ryan Sheridan | Lindstrøm & 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.

## 2011 Festival

Maravillas Stage
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| The Streets Plan B Pendulum Paolo Nutini Russian Red Layabouts | The Strokes Brandon Flowers Elbow Friendly Fires Nudozurdo Atom Rhumba | Arctic Monkeys Mumford and Sons Primal Scream Lori Meyers Tame Impala Mcenroe | Arcade Fire Portishead Noah and the Whale Catpeople Pigbag The Coronas |
Fiberfib.com Stage
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Lesser Gods Henry Saiz Jack Beats Chase and Status Congotronics vs. Rockers Julieta Venegas Antilles The Spires | Mary Anne Hobbs The Juan MacLean James Murphy The Stranglers Herman Dune The Paris Riots Ainara LeGardon Jane Joyd | Derrick Carter Fake Blood Big Audio Dynamite Beirut Bombay Bicycle Club Astrud and Col-lectiu Brossa Nadadora Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club | Gesaffelstein Roska Tinie Tempah The Go! Team Professor Green The Joy Formidable Antonia Font Los Eterno |
Fib Club
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Crystal Fighters Dorian Anna Calvi Guille Milkway DJ Set Grupo Salvaje Aldo Linares Gasteiz Gang | The Undertones The Morning Benders Zombie Zombie The Marzipan Man O Emperor DJ Rojiblanco Mondo Sonoro DJ's The 1945 | Amable Star Slinger Spectrals Smile Logo Los Ginkas Sunta Templeton | Hidrogenesse Anika Chris Geddes DJ Set And So I Watch You From Afar Aldo Linares Indienella |
Jack Daniels Stage Saturday
* The Dandies

## 2012 Festival

The 2012 Festival took place from July 12, 2012 - July 15, 2012.

### Maravillas

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Florence and the Machine - Cancelled due to illness At the Drive-In The Horrors Example Pony Bravo Los Tiki Phantoms | Bob Dylan Bombay Bicycle Club Chase & Status The Maccabees Miles Kane Disappears | The Stone Roses Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Crystal Castles Jessie J School of Seven Bells Delorentos | New Order David Guetta Ed Sheeran The Vaccines Cooper The Secret Society |

### Trident Senses

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| De La Soul Bat for Lashes - Canceled Dave Clarke Kurt Vile & the Violators Yuksek Lisa Hannigan Tuya Chin Yi Arveene & Misk | Katy B Little Dragon Sebastian Jero Romero Oscar Mulero La Habitación Roja Klaus & Kinski Arp Attack Viktor Flores | Dizzee Rascal Maverick Sabre Buzzcocks Robyn Hitchcook & The Venus 3 The Shit Robot Department S Damian Schwartz Modulok | La Casa Azul Little Boots Agoria Presents: Forms Stevie Jackson Spector Maya Janes Coles The Crookes Juanita Y Los Feds |

### FIB Club

| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| — | Django Django Zola Jesus Timber Timbre Joe Crepúsculo Virginia Diaz Smart Los Hermanos Pizarro Sons Phonetic | Fujiya & Miyagi Matmos The New Raemon Ham Sandwich Blanca DB Don Gonzalo Kidd Ross Ligers | Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs The Antlers Howler Todd Terje Aldo Linares Thee Brandy Hips Two Pias (DJ set) Kauf Vintage (DJ set) |

## Controversy

FIB has received criticism from nationalist sectors in Spain, aimed at the fact that it does not support Valencian culture, even though it takes place in the Valencian Community and receives a high amount of public money to finance itself. FIB's director Jose Luis Morán stated in an interview that he did not intend to include any band in the festival that had lyrics in Catalan, Euskera or Galego. Among the people and associations that have criticized this is Marina Albiol, an Esquerra Unida politician.