In early July ITM had the pleasure of sending Michael Johnston and Ben Creasey along to cult French music event Calvi On The Rocks. Never heard of it? Neither had we, but after reading their report of the fun and games we’re pencilling it in for next year… read on to find out why!

The journey from London had started… Two English geezers and one Aussie, seventeen hours of travel – including two flights, three bus rides (and one drink too many) – and we reached a point where we had choose; another two hour bus ride to the town we were aiming to reach, or pay 180 Euro for a taxi. This was when it dawned on us that it might have been better to skip Calvi On The Rocks altogether, opting instead for the safer option of Glastonbury. Who wants to come to a festival where nobody speaks your language anyway? Then we arrived… and very quick discovered how wrong we were.

How do you find out about a festival like Calvi On The Rocks? Like everything else in life, through a random friend of a friend’s status update on good old Facebook. After a quick internet search and look over last year’s event, we decided this would be our top pick for the European summer. Four days of partying on the beach, a boutique live arena and late night clubs, all on the beautiful French Mediterranean island of Corsica in the picturesque town of Calvi. It sounded a too good to be true. There was only one way to find out.

An average quaint, seaside town in pre-festival mode is a scary sight. It’s a landscape filled with rucksacks, straw hats and gumboots (if said festival is in the UK), with local shopkeepers buckling under the strain of constant requests for lager, Rizla and cashback. Not Calvi. We arrive at the picturesque but lively beach town mid afternoon on the day before the festival. We make our way down from the hotel (there are campsites, but hotels are fairly cheap and plentiful) for a look around, wondering if we were actually in the right place. We quickly realise, yes, after seeing Holy Ghost! wandering down the hill with armfuls of equipment. This, it would seem, was to be a running theme of the event, seeing DJs and bands wandering around like they were on their own personal holiday. It got almost embarrassing how many times we spotted the Ed Banger crew, but considering they’re on home turf it can be excused.

On the first day of the festival we set off to Octopussy, the main bar on the beach where all the “magic” was set to happen. We chilled and watched Busy P slowly whip the crowd up into a frenzy, culminating with him dropping Major Lazer’s ‘Pon De Floor’, before running into the sea – which had become the main dancefloor by this point – before the tune dropped, all so he could instigate a huge water fight. A highlight of the weekend, without a doubt.

After a quick disco nap, some brilliant French food and a few glasses of festival branded rosé, it was time to check out some live music. We swaggered through and explored the arena, got a drink, said hello to some pretty French girls, then positioned ourselves right at the front with ease. It was perfect timing as well, with Holy Ghost! leading in to Chateau Marmont, all set to a stunning backdrop of Calvi’s rocks, used to perfection as part of the light show. After, we retired for a few more drinks, and I even paid a visit to the least-festival smelling toilets I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing (for the whole five days they smelt of fresh woodchips. Amazing stuff.)

A short walk along the harbour and we were left to make a decision between two clubs, each associated with the festival. We were informed that Club 24 was for the people that like music, while Chez Tao was for the cool Parisians. We made the decision that the former would be more fun in this case, and with Breakbot playing a four hour workout we didn’t emerge again until 6am. Walking back to the hotel at sunrise, we knew we’d made the right decision.

Each day from there followed very much the same pattern. Dance in the sea amongst ladies in bikinis and boys in boardies by day, some high quality live music in the evening, and then a good ol’ fashioned raveout until the sun came up. Other highlights included Holy Ghost! playing a set of pure New York disco on the beach, A-Trak dropping the hotly tipped ‘Barbra Streisand’ in Club 24, Yuksek playing ‘Tonight’ live, and eating breakfast next to Busy P, Breakbot, A-Trak, Gaspard from Justice and the head of Ed Banger records. Oh, and standing next to Vincent from Midnight Juggernauts as he bought a beer on the beach. It was a weekend of electro celebrity spotting at its best!

So, in conclusion, if you don’t mind a bit of a hassle to get there, and you don’t mind paying a little bit more for the privilege… in return you’ll get the opportunity to party like only the French know how. It is not an all out party of reckless debauchery, in fact it was quite elegant. It was a perfectly lively beach holiday, with the main emphasis being the music, the beautiful surroundings, the friendly and interesting people, and most importantly… a general feeling that you’d discovered something special. It was for us – and any other discerning electronic music sun worshippers out there – the closest thing to paradise.

All photos courtesy calviontherocks.com. You can read more of Ben Creasey’s work at his blog.