For 3 heady months every year the beautiful Balearic island of Ibiza becomes the summer capital for the dance music industry of Europe. Home to the best clubs, the best parties and endless nights featuring the best DJ's Ibiza is the essential holiday destination for every European clubber. Starting around the middle of June when the opening parties start and the holiday makers begin arriving in large numbers, the summer season goes through to mid September when the closing parties will bring another summer of sleepless nights to an end. Spread all over the island but concentrated in and between Ibiza town and San Antonio clubs in Ibiza are amongst the most glamorous in the world. From the stylish and glamorous club El Divino in Ibiza town's port to the cavernous Privilege, (officially the largest club in the world), the clubs in Ibiza have earned themselves a reputation for events that take place there and experiences people take away with them. Credited by many as contributing to the launch of house music in the UK, after Nicky Holloway, Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold visited in the summer of 1987 and took back with them ideas of Balearic hedonism, fuelled by a mix of house music and ecstasy, the Ibiza experience has transformed over the years from its origins as a hippy hangout to a mass tourism destination. Increasing media coverage that peaked in 2000 swelling the number of visitors and consequently driving prices up.

With events on the island becoming big business the island has seen many of the top UK promoters and record labels such as Cream, Ministry of Sound, Gatecrasher and try their hand at events on the island over recent years with varying success. Some have come and gone, some have stayed but there's no doubting the potential rewards for those able to make it on the island, both in terms of financial gain from charging club goers an average of 30 Euros for each event but also long term promotional benefit from advertising their product and brand to the thousands of music fans on the island. Every kind of electronic music is represented on the island, there really is something for everyone from the ambient backed sunsets at Caf? Del Mar to thumping techno at Richie Hawtin and Sven Vath's Cocoon party, all tastes are catered to pretty much every day of the week, day and night. You don't have to pay to get into the clubs to hear quality music though, most of the clubs have official pre-club bars where from around 8 until 12 you can usually hear club residents tempting the clientele with a taste of what to expect at the clubs later in the night.

Away from the clubs and the tourist centres like San Antonio the island is a fairly un-spoilt Mediterranean paradise, cloudless blue skies, secluded sandy beaches and rugged interior making the island much more than just a place to party. With a history spanning thousands of years the island has a rich cultural heritage, which is reflected in the architecture and culture on the island. Nowhere is a better example of this than old Ibiza town. Surrounded by high stonewalls, the old town's narrow streets are flanked by whitewashed stone buildings perched on a hill overlooking the rest of Ibiza town and the harbour. The new town and the harbour area are much more developed and modern with trendy restaurants, hip bars and designer shops all in competition for those tourist Euros. Local Spanish cuisine is available all over the island at some excellent, albeit expensive, restaurants, although the ambience and surroundings, especially in out of town restaurants do go some way to make up for this. Expect to pay at least what you would at a London or Tokyo restaurant with cheap eating options being pretty limited and in most cases very basic. Getting there and away is pretty straightforward with daily flights from the Spanish mainland as well as most major European cities. The cheapest option for those going for a week or longer though would be to buy a package that includes flight and accommodation. Although it does fix your arrival and departure dates it can work out to be much cheaper, especially in the high season.

Text and Photo by Matt Cheetham (HigherFrequency)