Friendly. If I had to sum up the Costa Festival in one word that would be it – friendly! And that’s not surprising when you think about it. We have exclusive use of the hotel/resort, meaning that, apart from the hotel staff, everyone you see is at the festival. We all have at least a few things in common – love of music, enjoyment of festivals, and having a good holiday. You could think of us as a sort of tribe; indeed, Gerry Flynn, who started the whole thing, often said we were like a family – and there’s a lot of truth in that.
So – now about the Costa Festival itself.
It is held twice a year; in the spring we’re at the Sirensis Seaview Country Club at Port Des Torrent, which is near Sant Antoni on the Spanish island of Ibiza, and in the autumn we’re at the Grande Real Santa Eulália Resort & Spa in Albufeira, on the southern coast of Portugal. Both festivals work very much the same way, though inevitably with a few slight differences due to the hotels having different layouts. And the great news is that almost everything is included in the price!
The basic Costa Festival travel package from Harmony Voyages is a six-night break and it is very simple; they arrange the music, the hotel, and the transfers between the hotel and the local airport (Ibiza or Faro). You get yourself from your home to the local airport though if you’re not happy with booking your own flights, HV can help you with that. Some people like to incorporate the festival with a holiday in the area (and being travel organisers, HV can help you with that as well).
Most people arrive on the first day, settle in, and get an early night before the fun starts – well, the wise ones do. Many, however, end up singing in the late night session in the bar!
The next morning is for getting an idea of the place, finding your way round and what’s where, and then the five days of formal music kicks off after lunch. The concerts are all outdoors and offer two sets in the morning, three sets in the afternoon, and two more in the evening, with most of the artists doing two sets over a couple of days.
All outdoors? Well yes, the weather is nearly always good (though you might need to wear something a little warmer in the evening), and on the rare occasions that a spot of bad weather comes along there is a large, indoor concert room on standby. Whether the concerts be outdoors or indoors, the sound team do a great job. Come the seventh day and, reluctantly, it’s time to go home.
If this seems like a bit of a rush and you’d like a bit more time, HV can usually book you an extra day or two in the hotel before or after the event, allowing you to settle in earlier or rest afterwards (the latter’s a particularly good idea, especially if you couldn’t drag yourself away from the late-night singing on the last night and are unfortunate enough to have a 7 o’clock transfer to the airport the next morning).
These extra days are becoming more popular so there’ll be others to keep you company, and that’ll sometimes mean at least a little more music (of the home-made variety – ‘cos there’s always some folks who’ll have brought their instruments with them).
But what if you’re a solo traveller and don’t know anybody?
Did I mention that the Costa Festival is very friendly? It really is. And what’s more, on the first morning there’s a session for solo travellers to get together, whether they be experienced Costa folks or newbies, so after that we’ll all have somebody we know, somebody we can say Hi to and have a chat with, maybe join for meals, or sit round with for a coffee or a beer.
The music is mostly folk music and these days that’s a pretty wide term. Whilst it still incorporates the older “traditional folk music”, it’s a vast distance from the back bar of an old village pub offering an evening of finger-in-ear-hole-dirges. Today’s folk music incorporates inspiration from cultures around the world, deals with topics both old and new, and blends aspects of so many other musical forms. And at the Costa Festival it can go a little beyond even that.
-Peter Tyers
