PHOTO REPORT I went to the biggest trotting festival in Romania. What I saw on the second night of Beach Please/ The artist whose songs no one played and the disappointment on his face/ Pluses and minuses compared to the first edition

Beach Please is the biggest trap music festival in Romania and is in its second edition also on Costinești beach, where the first edition of the festival took place. If last year the festival enjoyed success, this year the organizers offered a festival 10 times bigger.

The first year of Beach Please was an organizational failure. Queues of thousands of people formed at the entrance to the festival and those who checked the tickets and had to put the bracelets on the young people were simply overwhelmed by the very large number of people gathered at the event. As a result, at Beach Please from 2023 it was decided that the wristbands for those who purchased subscriptions but also for those who purchased their wristbands for the day should be picked up from the stands located in the Costinești resort and not from the entrance to festival to facilitate access.

The check-in process started as early as April 25, two days before the start of the actual festival, an assurance from the organizers that the huge queues of the first year will no longer form. Waiting times at Beach Please 2022 were also 3-4 hours to get into the festival.

The juvenile wristband was pink and the adult wristband was red. The principle is constructive, it is considered that minors will not have access to alcoholic beverages, considering that in order to make the payment, the card placed on the bracelet is used which also acts as an identifier when entering the festival, the check-in is done by based on the bulletin.

Once you enter the gate of the festival, the first thing that stands out in front of you is the Food Court. According to the organizers, it is the largest food court ever placed at a festival in Romania. In a huge tent, a diverse range of products from all cultures are lined up. The smell of food hits you from the entrance to the festival. It can be an up or it can be a down prospect of such a large food court in the middle of the festival.

Contrary to expectations, the place was very big, but nevertheless the smell problem did not exist. There were queues, of course, at most of the food trucks and to get a seat at a table you had to be very careful because the seats were filled quickly, there was a continuous flow. It should be noted that there were a lot of tables and chairs and it was not crowded, this being another plus compared to last year when the limited space in the food court area represented an impediment if you wanted to eat.

The festival has a first aid area, respectively a tent. It has a “Lost and Found” area where, as the name suggests, partygoers can bring in found items or report items as lost.

The procedure for purchasing food or drink from bars is specific to festivals, based on the access card in your hand, go to a top up point where you will put money on your wristband. One negative thing, the top up points, i.e. the places where you put money on your bracelet, are located at the beginning of the festival and if you ran out of money it’s not funny, because you’ll have to go a long way. There would have been a need for more such places for sure, scattered throughout the festival space.

Toilets in general are huge downsides at festivals, due to endless queues and poor hygiene. At Beach Please there are many ecological toilets, located next to each other in two distinct areas – men’s and women’s. Waiting times are not long.

After passing the food court, the first stage of the festival, called “The Dome Stage” appears on the horizon. The atmosphere is pleasant inside and alcoholic drinks and cigarettes can be purchased from this place.

Immediately after “The Dome Stage” you can see the Main Stage, which is also the attraction of the festival. On the second day of the concert, the most important names that arrived on the main stage of Beach Please were artists such as: Delia, Inna, Yny Sebi, Deliric, Satra BENZ, Nane, Central Cee (who was also the image of the festival , being one of the most famous artists at the moment), The Motans, Amuly, Azteca, Rava and the day ended with a show by Nervo.

On the second day of the festival, the headliner was Central Cee, one of the most famous artists in the UK. His performance was excellent and dynamic, but on the other hand the language barrier represented a major impediment between the artist and the audience. Hardly anyone played his songs and the disappointment could be seen on his face. There were a lot of jokes online right after Central Cee’s performance because the internet never forgives or forgets. One thing is certain, the atmosphere was pleasant, but the grimaces of the artist on the stage seeing that no one sings his songs are unforgettable. The previous hypothesis was confirmed at the end of the performance, after the audience broke down a bit on the last piece, managing to sing two lines in unison, the Briton didn’t stay on stage at all. He left suddenly showing that he was disappointed by what happened

Next, the stage was completed by Romanian artists such as Azteca, The Motans, Amuly, Rava. The atmosphere has completely changed from the time of the British Central Cee. A program change announced at the last minute caused one of the most listened to artists in Romania to be replaced. Nane should have performed before Central Cee on stage, but due to health problems the artist was replaced by the emblematic band for the Romanian trap music style “Șatra Benz”.

Behind the mainstage is the “SunRise” stage, one of the best places for when the temperature drops, typical of late April. The stage is under a tent, the same tent from the last edition that housed practically the entire festival. Being a secondary stage, everything is smaller than the main stage but this stage lived up to the expectations of the audience from the way the music is heard to the artists who were on it.

The big minus of the festival could be the fact that it takes place during this period. It’s not the best time of year to spend hours on the beach. The temperature still kept up with the partygoers, it wasn’t very cold but even the organizers recommended to dress well through an Instagram post.

The overall experience is a pleasant one but this festival needs to be treated as such, from the artists to the venue. It is a festival made by young people for young people. The artists who are coming in the following days are the most popular artists of the moment and the charts are built by young people.