Whilst we all might privately have our own preferences, when it comes to the public-facing role of Ibiza Spotlight, we are the epitome of neutrality. There are no favourites here. That said, we do all have a soft spot for IMS Grand Finale - the annual outdoor party in our picturesque Old Town.
There’s just something incredibly alluring about dancing in the open-air within the fortified walls of our UNESCO World Heritage Site Dalt Vila. It’s the curtain-raiser to the season for good reason.
As has become a bit of a custom, we started the evening with drinks, food and industry networking in the shadow of Dalt Vila, before making our way up to the bastion Baluarte de Santa Lucía.
After a few rounds of chupitos, it was time to turn our attention towards the music. IMS Grand Finale has form for throwing together fantasy back-to-back pairings, as well as spotlighting emerging talent for solo sets.
Ukrainian starlet KOROLOVA was the first act we saw from her opening track and she didn’t take too long to put the dancefloor in a vice-like grip.
Reminiscent of their own headline set at this fixture from a couple of years ago, CAMELPHAT’s atmospheric For A Feeling (Layton Giordani Remix) led us immediately into Enrico Sangiuliano’s fresh cut The Techno Code.
This track had heavy support at Time Warp DE a month ago, where it already sounded fantastic. To discover it has made the leap to Ibiza, filled us with joy. We expect to hear it lots this summer, as we’ll surely be seeing lots of KOROLOVA at her various island appearances.
With the groundwork already laid, whoever followed was stepping into optimum conditions as the crowd brayed for more.
Hï Ibiza’s new Thursday night resident HUGEL and Major League DJz then delivered a virtuoso Afro House back-to-back that proved the genre has so much more to offer beyond market-leaders KEINEMUSIK. The night was not yet complete.
There was still time for another of Hï Ibiza’s assets, Paco Osuna, to step up for the go-home set. Swapping his bridegroom’s tux from earlier in the week, for his more familiar black tee and baseball cape, the Spanish DJ cast an iconic silhouette amid the rising dry ice.
That’s the magic of IMS Grand Finale. We are now totally invested in three exciting residencies hitting the island later this summer.
We’ll be back reporting from IMS Grand Finale next April. Just try keeping us away. If you missed out this time, we hope you can join us next year to usher in Ibiza 2026.
KOROLOVA looks after the Club Room with her Captive Soul record label for Blackworks on four dates between 4 and 25 June.
She then becomes a weekly resident for RESISTANCE’s mammoth return to Ibiza, when it lands at Amnesia for nine weeks from 23 July.
You can find all of her confirmed Ibiza 2025 dates by visiting this page.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Ben Levi Suhling, Juan Sabatino, PHRANK and Tatiana Chausovsky
