THE 2011 LINE-UP HAS LANDED! CHECK IT OUT HERE.

For a number of reasons Space Ibiza NYD was one of the most talked about festivals of the year when it hit Sydney for the very first time on New Year’s Day 2010. With a strong lineup of international DJs in a new setting, punters approached the festival’s debut with both excitement and anticipation, however that seemed to become overshadowed when a clunky third party ticket promotion went sour and scores of festival-goers were left ticket-less and angry.

Whilst there’s been much debate following the festival meltdown, inthemix can now reveal that Space Ibiza will be back for NYD 2011, and it promises to be bigger and a lot better than the 2010 birth.

Rumblings of the festival’s resurrection first rippled across the dance community when the above billboard appeared outside of Space’s Ibiza home for the annual closing party spectacular and now inthemix has got a hold of event promoter Paul Strange to clear the air about the festival.

Speaking to ITM, Strange confirmed that Space will once again take over the Entertainment Quarter and Showring on New Year’s Day, promising that we’ll see the first round of acts on Monday and the Sydney kingpin also took the time to clear the air about what went wrong earlier in the year and how he and his Space crew will learn from their mistakes for round two.

Check out our words with Paul Strange about the future of Space Ibiza below and then come back to inthemix on Monday for the full first lineup. All we can say is we’ve heard some very good things about who Space have on the bill.

In your eyes, what worked and what didn’t work with the debut Space Ibiza in January?

With Space being a first year festival at a new venue which had previously not been used for this type of event before we did have a few teething problems as most established festivals have experienced in their first year however I must also point out that there were a lot of positives that will be carried through to this year..We had a great crowd of dance music lovers who appreciated the more underground sounds of house. The quality of the crowd really stood out from other festivals with even police, security and the venue themselves commenting that it was the best festival crowd they had seen in a long time.

The venue itself is a massive positive for us. We believe it is the perfect location and before our Space event it had never been used for this type of event before and is still fresh with only Creamfields being the only other festival to have used it since. The venue certainly fits the Space vibe and now with adding the Coachbay stage and the inside Forum nightclub creates a great mix of areas.

There were some great sets last year from Pete Tong, Christian Burkhardt, Tiefschwarz, Jonathan Ulysses and of course Camillo Franco who was the highlight for many people. With the line-up we have in store this year there will be many, many more amazing sets through the day and evening.

We are however very aware of the things which did not work and have made a conscious effort to address each of these issues this year. The biggest issue for us which arose came from having 2 stages within the Showring area which caused soundclash. To solve this issue we are having only 1 main stage in the Showring and moving the 2nd stage to the Coachbay.

Another thing that didn’t work was the production on the stages which lacked and certainly and was not up to the level that it should have been. This is definitely something which has also been addressed and will be MASSIVLY improved on this year as we are bringing in massive production on all stages.

The set up and number of toilets were also did not work and will be vastly improved on this year…Lastly we thought that there were some artists on the line up last year which did not suit the Space brand and did not work for us so we are making sure that this year’s line up is vastly improved and the artists much more aligned with Space in Ibiza and the sounds you would hear at Space.

Now that the event is returning, what are you consciously doing different and how important is it to learn from any past mistakes that may’ve taken place?

This year the first main focus was to establish a new team whom each shared the same vision and understanding of the Space brand. We have
been working much more closely with Space all year and together we have worked hard to establish what is going to be a high quality event in which we all believe will continue successfully for many years to come. This year’s layout will be vastly improved on with the addition of the Coachbay (carpark) stage and the Forum as well as the Showring (main stage). With a diversity of music throughout the event, each stage will be well programmed and consistent. This year we are putting a huge emphasis on the production of the event learning from the mistakes of last years.

We are making sure that this year we are working with the best people in each field, production, sound, staging etc. Every decision made will be run through with the whole team which will help avoid any confusion, or situations arising like what happened last year with an external ticket promotion from an external promotions company…This [coming] year I will be across and on top of everything which will mean this sort of issue will NOT happen again.

I do believe that to be successful you need to learn and grow from previous mistakes and that is what we intend to do. We have addressed the problems and will eliminate each of these issues this year and make this an event that people want to return to year in and year out.

Obviously you care about and believe in the potential that Space Ibiza has on the Sydney scene otherwise you wouldn’t have brought it back for NYD 2011, so what is it about the event that you think is unique and that punters can’t find anywhere else this summer?

I first went to Space in Ibiza in 1996 and it was and has always been a special place for me since arriving in Sydney from Ibiza 10 years ago I have always wanted to create the special vibe at Space at the opening and closing parties. This is a vision I have that is shared by my new partners and the new team behind this year’s event. We believe there is a solid base from the quality clubbing crowd and the vibe in which we can build on. This view is also shared by the owner of Space, Pepe Rosello, who made the trip down from Ibiza and saw the potential for the Space Ibiza festival in Sydney. Space has been working closely with our new team on all aspects of this year’s festival so that we can deliver a world class event that continues for years to come.

We think that Space Ibiza Festival will provide a unique vibe in what is a saturated festival market for a number of reasons…Firstly coming from a marketing background I am conscious that we have identified a market which is no longer being catered for in the Sydney Scene. We are not trying to replicate the other successful Sydney festivals format which a lot of new festivals try to do. We are bringing the vibe, music and essence of Space over to Sydney and providing a boutique Festival with a great crowd and staying true to underground electronic dance music which suits our demographic.

Space has a massive following over in Ibiza, how important is it to establish a similar sense of brand-loyalty amongst clubbers and festival goers here in Sydney?

Space Ibiza is the world’s most revered club and its opening and closing parties are legendary with people coming from all over the world to attend year after year. They utilise the outside carpark as a main stage called the ‘flight arena’(which we will be replicating on the Showring). Space has always been a world leader in cutting edge underground, electronic dance music and also providing a quality clubbing experience, amazing vibe and crowd. This is why people return each year and why Space has such a massive following. It is very important for any brand to have a loyal following to ensure its growth and to secure its longevity…this takes time to develop (Space celebrated its 20th anniversary last year) but even though this is the second year we have brought Space to Australia we feel that the following and support is there and growing and we have the elements in place this year to build on this and to ensure, that with quality music, an ample sound system, the right crowd and vibe, this continues for years to come just like Space in Ibiza.