JUNE | OPINION
What sets RFM SOMNII apart?
Somnii means dream in Latin and the
name says it all. It’s like a treasure that was
hidden from the international audience
so far. The combination is unique:
the relaxed, friendly and welcoming
atmosphere of Portugal combined with
some of the biggest stars of the world,
playing their gigs on a beautiful beach.
Why do you think Portugal is becoming
a hot spot for the modern day festival?
We think the modern festival is not
‘just’ a musical attraction, it’s more like
an opportunity of leaving the everyday
life behind for a few days, looking for
new experiences in as many aspects as
possible. So, there’s a close connection
with tourism. More and more fans are
ready to travel hundreds (even thousands)
of kilometres for a new festival experience
and Portugal is definitely an exciting
destination. It is one of the most sought
after countries in Europe nowadays.
Beautiful landscape, easy to reach, cities
full of history, while there’s plenty of sun,
fair prices and a generally relaxed and
welcoming host nation. We are aware of
all these comparative advantages and try
to build upon them with RFM SOMNII.
What are the challenges putting on a
beach festival?
It is always a challenge to build facilities
Partying in
Portugal
Access meets Pedro Abelha the festival director
of RFM SOMNII, which takes place 5-7 July, in
Praia do Relógio, Figueira da Foz
on sand, especially with the massive size
of RFM SOMNII. Our main stages are
on a beach with a direct sea connection,
so this brings lots of challenges for our
infrastructure, but that’s also the price
of being a special event. We are hosting
hundreds of thousands of people for
three full days and our primary concern
is that they are safe, while enjoying
themselves as much as possible. And of
course we want to make sure we preserve
our natural location as much as possible.
Luckily we have lots of experience doing
this, so we’re confident that we can do a
good job also this year.
How are you improving your methods?
We’re specialists in building these kind
of events and we improve year-by-year.
The idea is simple: we want to provide
more and more attractions on site to
make people have an enjoyable stay. Of
course this is not easy, but 2019 will see
already the 7th edition of RFM SOMNII,
while our company also runs other events
across Portugal. This year we’ve added
new stages and program venues both at
the beach and in our host city, Figueira da
Foz. We’ve also introduced our new beach
camping with pre-pitched and very eco-
friendly cardboard tents. RFM SOMNII
is definitely improving and now – more
than ever – it also reaches out towards
the international fans.
What particular challenges do beach
festivals face?
Maybe the first idea you would
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normally get when talking about a beach
festival is the potential challenge created
by the changeable weather. Like all event
organisers, of course we’re keeping our
fingers crossed, but our experience so far
is very positive also in this sense. We have
the luck of having the best weather in
Europe in those days and this year we’re
also counting on a great edition, also
weather-wise.
Are there different environmental
impacts or concerns?
This is all about learning and improving
steadily. We have, every year, a great
campaign of environmental awareness
during the days of the event. This year
we are switching to reusable cups, used
exclusively at the whole event. In our case
this is quite a challenge, since our 2019
program venues range from the beach
all the way to the whole city of Figueira
da Foz. But we will make a great job, I can
promise that.
Do they require a lot more planning and
staging? I’d imagine it’s difficult to get a
lot of trucks and vehicles in and out
It’s a complex project of logistics but
at the same time very clean. The day we
finish one edition we start working in
the next one, to improve and to give the
fans the best experience of their lives. We
work closely with our host city and this
has been a really happy ‘marriage’ so far,
so we’re confident that it will last long.
Read the full article at accessaa.co.uk