Sun, Sea, Sand and a 3 Day Music Festival

2013 saw the 5th Anniversary of one of Spain's biggest music festivals, Low Cost Festival in Benidorm. Over 20,000 people attended each night and it has just been confirmed that Benidorm will remain the host city until at least 2020. Three nights of amazing music, scrummy food and not a rain poncho to be seen.

If your idea of a festival is being knee-deep in mud, soaking wet and having to take practically every item of warm clothing you own and if, like me, that doesn't sound all that appealing then Low Fest definitely will. Held in a sports stadium/fields at the end of July (with temps of around 35°), you can camp in a wooded shaded area or if that's too much like roughing it then you can book into one of the many nearby hotels.

Though Low Festival, yes they've dropped the 'cost' this year, might not have the biggest names in music headlining, you will already be familiar with some and can rock out to others. It does have a VIP Olympic sized swimming pool, as opposed to an unintentional mud bath, and a separate VIP area.

Last year's line up included Two Door Cinema Club, Glasvegas, Portishead, Belle and Sabastian, Crystal Castles and TOY and some cool indie Spanish bands I can guarantee you definitely won't have heard of. Unlike most British festivals, weirdly Low doesn't even start each night until 6pm and most people don't rock up until after 9, the headliners usually play around midnight, and bands play until around 5am. This leaves all day to be spent chilling on the beach or eating delicious tapas in the Old Town, both only a 15 minute walk from the festival.

Last year's festival featured, for the first time ever in Spain, #ElChipProdigiosoDelLow which means "the prodigious chip". This chip was inside the wristbands and allowed anyone attending to post instant updates and photos to Facebook from Like/Check Points and Photo Stations inside the festival by registering their unique ticket number online beforehand. Certainly enough to make mother's head explode at the technological awesomeness.

So far The Hives and Editors are amongst a lot of random Spanish acts confirmed for Low Festival 2014, however most bands won't be announced until the beginning of May.

So glampers, put your wellies away, book your flight, grab your swimmy and pack some factor 30+. Three day tickets are currently 50€ but act fast as the longer you wait, the higher the price (you know the drill). VIP Pool tickets which include an unlimited free supply of Budweiser (curiously I'm feeling they may be the sponsors again this year) are 125€, if you're a fangirl then this is definitely the ticket for you as most acts lounge around the pool during the day.

Read my interviews from Low Cost 2013 with Two Door Cinema Club here and Glasvegas here.

Purchase tickets from www.lowfestival.es

                   

My Low Cost Festival 2013 (all my own photos)

Are New Year's Resolutions a thing of the past?

For the third year in a row my New Year's resolution is to lose weight. The last sentence would suggest that for the past two years I haven't stuck to my resolution, that would be correct. "This year will be different" I tell myself, raising an eyebrow questioning my own commitment. I am indeed writing this surrounded by piles of Christmas chocolate, I mean it's not my fault that I was given so much chocolate and not eating it would just be rude, right? Besides, I can start next week or the following...

That's the first mistake, the minute you put off your New Year's resolution it's no longer a new-year thing and with my procrastination skills it can easily become a middle-of-the-year thing which then turns into a never thing. As December comes to an end the pointless and untrue 'New year, new me♥' Facebook statuses are always there for no reason other than my amusement. However, this year I've seen more statuses saying 'Stop with the new year, new me posts as you're not going to change'. Ooh, snappy.

I'm not hugely overweight but I know I really should have a healthier diet and exercise more. I would also love to have the confidence to wear a bikini knowing I look great. It's just difficult to find the motivation to stick to my convictions when the only person who is affected by the outcome is myself. Of course, I know all of the best angles to take a fabulous 'loving life' selfie but there would be nothing better than wearing being able to wear exactly what I want without having to disguise my worst bits.

Perhaps to make our resolutions worthwhile we need to tell the whole world about them. An "It's 2014 and I'm going to quit smoking!" tweet would be embarrassing if one of your followers saw you with a cheeky cigarette outside the office. A before Instagram picture in a bikini would be a disaster if there was never an after, or if the after was actually worse. If all of your Facebook friends knew your resolution was to limit usage on the site it would be awkward if you were never offline.

Could it be possible that New Year's resolutions are just a thing of the past? Are we asking too much of ourselves unnecessarily? Anyway, who decided New Year's Resolutions had to be boring or something we don't want to do? If we made fun resolutions like wear high heels everywhere or eat more bacon then we would have no trouble at all sticking to them. The January Blues would be gone if we all had cool new things to try.

Whatever you're trying to change in 2014, take a look back and ask if you accomplish said task will it make you happy? If the answer is yes, then tell everybody what you're trying to do until you've done it. If the answer is no, then accomplishing it won't warrant your hard work so don't put yourself through it!

My Top 10 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Use more glitter
2. Wear red lipstick
3. DO NOT save it for a special occasion
4. Have more Girls' Nights
5. Give more compliments
6. Step outside your comfort zone
7. When something goes wrong yell "Plot twist!" and move on
8. Invest more time in others
9. Send more Thank You cards
10. Keep your standards as high as your expectations

P.S. I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope 2014 brings you happiness and new experiences.

P.P.S. My other New Year's resolution is to write an article once a fortnight and publish it on the blog. Eek! I've said it now so please hold me to it...