Last weekend, Brunch Electronik enjoyed its successful maiden outing at 528 Ibiza. Ten years since its inaugural edition in Barcelona, the pop-up party made the leap from the mainland, bringing many of its loyal fan base with it.
Before the party started, we had the privilege of sitting down with one-half of Pole Position and one of Brunch Electronik's founding partners Loïc Le Joliff to learn more about the party. We were keen to find out more about Brunch Electronik's genesis and its journey to Ibiza.
Brunch Electronik founder Loïc Le Joliff talks to Ibiza Spotlight
Hi Loïc. Let's go right back to the start. How did Brunch Electronik start and what's the philosophy behind the brand?
"The first edition of Brunch Electronik happened in 2014 in Barcelona. We decided to hold a series of events in the modern art museum in the CBD, using its outdoor area.
Our idea was to mix electronic music with good food, kids activities, have a small market with local traders, sell clothes and try to create a community. It was ten years ago. At this time, the main trend was still clubbing.
We were one of the first ones to really push the concept of open-air - not just as a festival, but as a series of parties. Through the years, we developed the concept.
We work around three pillars, which are: equality, environment and community.
Equality is in everything we do. For the women and members of the LGBTQIA community who work at and attend our parties, we always think 'how can we make them feel comfortable? How we can avoid any type of harassment?' etc.
For example, we have a safe space which is a place in the festival where you can just go just to chill if you lose your friend, you need to charge your phone or if you need some non-medical assistance. We also investigate any type of incident, either inside or outside of the party.
Another focus is on sustainability. Everything we do, regarding the management of our waste, tries to reduce our impact as much as possible.
We are really focused on zero-waste. We plan to use no single-use plastic around the venue. Some of the production had to be transported from Madrid, which obviously comes with some carbon impact, but we haven’t bought anything new.
Everything has to be recycled - that's our philosophy. At the first event, everything might not be one hundred per cent perfect, but with time, we strongly believe we can improve and make the least environmental impact possible.
Lastly, the third pillar is community. It's everything we do around the parties to avoid any kind of conflict.
We talk with the local residents about how we manage the people around the party, how we clean and tidy and how we manage the traffic. The idea is to bother people as little as possible and also to give back to the community. We work with NGOs in the local area.
After those first editions, how quickly did it grow into bigger venues, bigger crowds?
"Well, we went from a first edition of 3,000 people and now we are in Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, doing a series of parties. That means between 10 and 20 events a year. We also do one-off parties in Paris, Lyon, Los Angeles and Lima.
In Barcelona, we are throwing parties for 5,000 or 10,000 people on each occasion. The same for Madrid. We have been lucky and the brand has grown very, very big.
We also have our bigger events and the flagship of the brand is the Brunch Electronic Festival, which is happening in August. This is a 70,000 capacity festival that we started last year. Everything is growing."
The allure of Ibiza and the magic of 528
What made you make the jump to Ibiza and why now?
"Ibiza was a natural step for us. I'm French and my business partner is Belgian, but we are based in Barcelona. We know the island very well. I visit maybe 10 or 12 times a year. Coming to the island has always been on our agenda.
It was always important for us to come here eventually, but we are very conscious about the difficulties the island can present.
We've had a few proposals in the past, but none that really aligned with what we wanted to achieve.
Our primary goal in Ibiza this summer is just to make a first step on the island with a lot of humility and respect - respecting the history and everything that is happening here. We don't want to be seen as some kind of disruptor or whatever. We're just trying to build our little thing.
That's why we're only doing three parties this year at the peak time and all taking place at the weekend, on Fridays.
Our main concern, and what we've been working on very hard, is to give to the people a real Brunch experience. We didn't want to have to compromise on our vision.
It's going to be a real Brunch. At the opening party, we're expecting a lot of people. A lot of our fans are coming from Madrid, Barcelona or elsewhere. We really want them to say, 'I was at Brunch and it was the same as I was in Barcelona and Madrid.'
For us, it's really a question of status for the brand. If we can come to Ibiza and be successful here, for me and the team, it's a dream. To finally be here and to programme three very good showcases, it's great exposure for the brand on the international stage."
When was it you first personally came to either 528 Ibiza as it is now or in its past incarnation?
"I didn't get a chance to party at 528 Ibiza until last year. I came to Solomon, and when I saw the place, I was like, 'Man, if something has to happen for Brunch in Ibiza, it has to be here' because it's the perfect spot.
I believe the 528 team did a very good job in the last few years to bring a bit more magic to this venue. It's beautiful. There's a lot of little corners that you can kind of lose yourself. There's very beautiful little details. And well, last year, I really liked it.
Eventually, thanks to a good friend of ours - Monolink and Ben Böhmer’s agent actually - he believed there was something missing on the island for his artists, for example, a live show. Thanks to him, we started the first conversation with the venue at the beginning of April.
Maybe next year we would like to book more live acts to be a bit more different from the rest of the island. But we're super happy with the line-up we have for this year.
Sometimes life is just, you know, just a matter of knowing the right person, a bit of luck and things just fall into place.
So, it's important to mention that it’s been super easy to work with Andy McKay and his team. They've been very supportive, and we are aligned on the philosophy of the party, the future of the space, and the venue. Both sides are taking this year as an investment into the future.
Booking the line-up
Talking about the line-up, across the three days, it's quite varied. How did you go about creating it?
When we started to check the possibilities for the first one, Monolink was available and we were already working with Adriatique a lot and were lucky enough that they were available. It's the only live set Monolink is doing here this summer, so that's very special."
"So we built this line-up, which is a bit more melodic but not too aggressive. We decided to book something that suits being in the open air - it couldn’t have worked any other way. We believe the music will work really well together for the opening.
The second one, we follow with another live act, which is Ben Böhmer and built it around him with Innellea and Sofia Kourtesis.
For the last one, we decided to do more to do a more House-y day with Folamour’s Housey Disco and the legend Mr. G who never gets booked on the island. He’s been a super cool friend of ours for years. Jeremy Underground too. That's a bit more of a risky line-up, but we wanted to try something different and go down the House route on that date."
You showed us around the different areas earlier, including the Grand Park. How much of the set-up and the production is custom-designed for 528?
Every city we are in, depending on the venue, we adapt it a little. So the structure itself comes from the island, but the rest is being imported.
We've got a big truck coming from Madrid. We also have about ten people from our team coming from the mainland to help set-up.
But what is really cool with a venue like this is that we don't have to bring some magic to the venue.
Here, it's much easier because the venue itself is wonderfully green and vibrant. But we still want to make it different and put our own personal stamp on it. There will be a lot of shade, and we also have the mist system to make it cooler.
This site does have potential issues with ingress and egress. How have you adapted that commitment to 528 Ibiza?
"Yeah, it's one of the challenges that comes with the venue.
Obviously, it's a great venue with lots of functionality. With our experience in Barcelona, we are surrounded by neighbours. Therefore, we know the type of impact this kind of party can have.
For starters, we have more shuttles - free buses to get to the venue. We have them coming from both directions: from the port of Ibiza and from San Antonio's bus station. So on the way in and on the way back, you can hop-on and hop-off.
We ask attendees to avoid bringing their car if at all possible."
The real Brunch experience
Finally, for attendees coming to any of the three parties, what would you say to them about what they can expect and what would you advise them to get the most out of the experience?
"I would advise them to come early to have the full experience. Come to have food here and spend some time chilling here, because it's a wonderful venue for this. If there’s one enemy here, it’s the heat. We have added a lot of extra shade as well as the water system.
What you can expect is something very special that we managed to create through every city - and I'm certain it's going to be the same in Ibiza.
We are bringing the same type of crowd, the same good vibe, a very respectful and educated crowd, coming from the music, coming to have a good time. People that know how to behave in a party. People of any sexual orientation will be very much welcome and you're going to have a great time.
That's the philosophy of Brunch, to enjoy the moment and not be bothered by anything. We believe that we're going to have very nice crowds.
Tickets for the second and third instalments on 19 and 26 July are on sale now and available to buy below.
Photos by Peter Young and Walter Paz
