The annual Primavera fiesta is considered the unofficial beginning of the season, and brings the diverse Ibiza community out of their winter hibernation, giving everyone the opportunity to catch up on the latest news. Primavera fiesta means Spring festival and there could not be a better place to celebrate Spring than Atzaro. Atzaro is set in the middle of the countryside, and the journey there reminds you with the lush green grass, white almond blossoms and a beautiful blue sky. We were blessed with a stunning sunny day, which made driving there even more of a treat. The day was starting out as a good one.
Regular visitors to Atzaro will know it has its own sense of bohemian style. For this special Spring celebration it added more. Large metre wide butterflies were decorating trees, the entrance walkway was covered in colourful flowers, as were the bushes. This is all apart from the usual sculptures, trees bursting with juicy oranges, artwork, candles and lanterns.
From noon onwards the people of Ibiza gathered and knew they were in the right place. Arriving early allowed us to have a relaxing time exploring all the different stalls, selling fashion, jewelry, art and artisan goods. The stall owners we talked to were enjoying the buzz of Atzaro. Next to the main stage a stall selling the local Ibizan liquor Hierbas confided that they were using a recipe passed down through the family for more than 100 years.
Rock ´n´roll photographer and artist Berri Shulman-Hill had a stall selling her rather fabulous unique hats. As a regular at Atzaro at their winter Sunday markets, she reported that she loves to come to this spectacular event. We took a look at the De Angel stall, where owner Ramon painstakingly makes everything using natural ingredients from Ibiza. His artisan lavender soap is a best seller, made from lavender picked here on the island and smells divine. The British self taught artist Davey Brown showed some of his work. He specializes in pop art portraits. All of his work is hand drawn and hand painted. He was showing a fantastic collection of 25 DJ portraits.
Atzaro did itself proud with the selection of food available on the day. You name it, they had it, including sushi, BBQ, vegetarian food, vegan food and paella being just some of the stalls offering their individual delights. There was also a whole stall dedicated to desserts, a piece of heaven for those with a sweet tooth, and many of the options were gluten free, nut free, fat free but certainly not taste free.
Atzaro was offering a buffet during the festival. The buffet looked plentiful and diverse, with salads, pasta, fish, meat, and desserts. Apart from the food, an advantage of having the buffet was that the eating area offered a peaceful break from the crowds elsewhere. The area was beautifully decorated and tables had plenty of space between them. It has a very relaxed atmosphere.
This festival was one for all the family. Children had plenty of activities to choose from. Soft toys, tunnels and trampolines were continually in use by the little ones. The area for face painting was full of children having their faces painted in butterflies and other beautiful face art. Families were hanging out in a large grassy area near the main entrance to Atzaro. There was a gap in the hedge which led to a another quieter area. We found a large available Balinese bed there, with two snoozing children. It was a very peaceful space and an escape for some down time.
The children's activities and market area ran from 12:00 until 19.00, but the music was with us all day. Howard Hill warmed up the main area before the Ibiza Lights boogie band came on and gave an outstanding performance. The wonderful people of Ibiza don´t need any persuading to dance and this band had the crowds (with kids on shoulders) doing the slide across the dance floor.
Later, Iban Mendoza looked like he was having as good a time as the crowd, denoting him 100% worthy of receiving the “Best Ibiza DJ” at 2014's DJ awards. The impressive line of alternative names also included James Regal, Deivid Kirk, Lazy Lazerus, Xicu Portas Live, Amour, Xavier Arak, Oriol Calvo, Miguel Garji, Anna Tur and Luar. We were spoilt for choice with the music being split between the main area and the pool area. The Primavera festival certainly impressed the crowds and the Atzaro buzz continued on until the early hours.
WORDS | Louise Ware PHOTOS | Joan Sala & Louise Ware
