FIB returns this Thursday after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We didn’t have anything clear until the first festivities started being held and the sanitary restrictions were lifted,” he explains. David Sánchez, CEO, promoter of The Music Republic Valencian who bought FIB in 2019 and manages it together with his brother Toño. “We were very confident that we would celebrate the FIB this summer, and the moment we’ve been waiting for for three years has finally arrived,” he says in this poll he answered for Levante-EMV. It is also responsible for other festivals such as Les Arts, Arenal or Viña Rock.
Subscriptions have sold out this week and only daily tickets remain. Does this indicate that the public supports the new FIB?
effectively. The public has very positively supported this new phase of the FIB and this week’s return will be stylish.
In 2019 Music Republic acquired the festival. What were the main objectives of this acquisition?
The main goal was to save the brand, which was not in its prime and suffered a lot in recent editions. The public’s trust in the FIB needed to be regained, and as we can now confirm, that goal was achieved.
Season tickets were priced much lower this year than previous editions. Why did it fall?
You must always adapt to the demands of the market. We have designed a large poster at a competitive price that will attract not only foreign public but also all national exhibitors who stop coming to Benicàssim.
Another difference compared to previous editions is the presence of international artists, which is smaller. Is it about the new model they want for the FIB, or the challenges of recruiting during the pandemic?
There are many international artists on the bill. In fact, one of the stages consists of only foreign artists. Yes, it’s true that the rate is lower than in previous editions, but we see it from another angle. It’s not because there are fewer international artists. There are more national groups to save the Spanish people who stopped coming to the FIB.
Is it aimed to ‘rejuvenate’ the people who participated in the FIB before, with the decrease in season ticket prices and the change of artist types?
A festival needs to rejuvenate its people each year so that there are new people who want to attend your event each year. You can’t always live from the same audience, you have to reach new contributors every year.
What would you say to senior ‘fibers’ who claim this is not their FIB? Are they right?
Let them enjoy this new phase of FIB and forget about prejudices.
Is FIB now a ‘low cost’ festival?
The FIB will always be the FIB. We don’t like to put tags.
Is the 1998 FIB, 2012 or 2018 FIB more of a reference for you? or maybe Are there any references to other festivals of the Music Republic like Arenal or Les Arts?
FIB is FIB but always adapted to the market situation and the demands of the people.
Have you already started thinking about FIB 2023??
We’re already thinking about and working on the 2023 edition. In fact, some of the headlines for the next edition have already been confirmed.
Source: Informacion
