Twelve DJs will be bringing the thumping beats of electronic music to the Placencia Peninsula on the Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2015 weekend. The event is the first of its kind in Belize where the house, deep house, deep tech and techno electronic music scene is still in its budding stage.

The Belize Electronic Music Weekend (BEMW) is the brain child of Marcus and Anna Perigo, founders of Sisimito Records, the first electronic music label and events production company in Belize. Sisimito Records has been planning a full weekend of parties and are expecting a number of electronic music lovers to travel to the Peninsula for the event.

It all starts along the Placencia Lagoon near the northern end of the Peninsula at 9 p.m. on Friday night at the Belize Ocean Club’s Shore House, which recently hosted the Mistletoe Ball fundraising holiday gala for the local chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association. The elegant venue will be transformed into an electrifying night club atmosphere complete with visuals by Skip Weaver’s Belize FilmWorks (also filming on site) and a live performance by resident fire dancer, Stephanie Wandke (aka Fyah Gyal). Then on Saturday, the sounds will reach the southern end of the Peninsula at the Tipsy Tuna Beach Bar starting at three in the afternoon for a real after-party experience on the beach. On Sunday, the music will go downtempo at the Deep Chill Pool Party at the Belize Ocean Club from noon to 6 p.m.

The impressive DJ lineup for the first-time event includes talented artists travelling from different destinations in the world where the electronic music scene has grown into major tourist attractions.

Ominous, featuring Rad and Jonny Cruz of City Living Productions in San Juan, Puerto Rico will be treating the crowd to a live production of electronic sounds. Many electronic music fans are familiar with Jonny Cruz, who is also a producer and has released tracks on several successful labels including Cocoon, Supernature, Poker Flat, Souvenir Music and My favorite Robot.

Traveling the farthest distance for the event is Filipa Lazary (aka Golden Ratio) of Ibiza, Spain. She has been featured in the lineup of huge electronic music festivals accommodating thousands such as the popular Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, the Coincidance Festival in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and the Boom Festival in Portugal.

Also not a stranger to massive electronic music scenes is DJ Mar-C who splits her time between Berlin, Germany and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Mar-C was one of 200 artists who kicked off the New Year at the highly celebrated BPM Festival in Playa.

Organizer of the legendary Sunjam Festival in Honduras, DJ Luis Maier, will also be participating in BEMW. Maier’s production company the Funtime Society kicked off a three-day dance party in Utila on New Year’s Eve where Marcus Perigo was among the featured artists in the lineup. Margot Lox (Los Angeles, USA) is also playing at BEMW as a part of her nine-month worldwide tour. Other DJs performing sets for the weekend include Lightyearz (London), Memo Bacca (Nicaragua), Ossy Games (Honduras) and Sisimito DJ Uwe K (Hopkins, Belize).

While some electronic music scenes such as Playa’s BPM Festival, which now attracts 50,000 electronic music lovers from around the world, started just 10 years ago with only 300 people, Sisimito Records maintain that BEMW has modest ambitions. “We aim for a much more exclusive feel, but the timing of the party is conveniently connected to BPM, allowing all those electronic music lovers that are already in the area to travel across the border to visit our beautiful country,” said Anna Perigo, who has been busy connecting the international electronic music community with Belize. “All our visiting DJs are just thrilled and honored to be participating in this historic event for electronic music in Belize,” she said.

Buy your weekend pass for the festival at the Belize Ocean Club Office in Placencia Village for US$50 and Belizeans holding a Belize Social Security Card will receive a generous 50 percent discount. People outside the Placencia Peninsula who wish to purchase passes can contact Sisimito Records at 636-5015 or visit www.facebook.com/sisimitorecords.

The Electronic Music Scene has hit Belize

The electronic music scene has exploded in the past decade with several countries hosting festivals dedicated solely to this genre. Through the efforts of Sisimito Records, Belize got to experience its first electronic festival on the weekend of Friday, January 30th. When I heard the buzz, I was most excited, and made it a priority to attend if I had to swim to Placencia, I would have.

The Belize Electronic Music Weekend was held in Placencia, southern Belize, and had an amazing line-up of both local and international DJs. So I packed my bags and headed down south, where I got to stay at the luxurious Belize Ocean Club Resort- the venue for the opening event! Lucky ME! – the place is super posh and perfect for an electronic music festival! Kamasutra (the name given to the opening event) was scheduled to commence at 10PM at The Shore House at Belize Ocean Club.

The featured DJs mostly specialize in deep house and underground dance, which was perfect for the crowd in attendance. Their incredible talent kept the crowd dancing until the wee hours of the morning (I’m taking past 4AM!). I even made a couple new friends as I was pulled to the dance floor!

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