“The BPM Festival’s organizers have stated, ‘there are forces at play in Costa Rica that appear determined for us to fail.'”

Following two days marked by unexpected event cancellations, The BPM Festival Costa Rica has announced the cancellation of all remaining days of its program in Tamarindo, Guanacaste.

On the first day of the festival, Wednesday, all evening parties were cut short, and three additional events were called off the next day. By the evening, The BPM Festival’s organizers released a statement asserting that they had undertaken “a thorough investigation” and had received confirmation from local authorities that they were fully authorized to proceed with the event.

However, the tone shifted dramatically by morning. “It is with sincere regret that we have been forced to cancel all further events for the 2025 edition of The BPM Festival: Costa Rica,” their latest Instagram post stated.

Organizers asserted that “all necessary permits were secured well in advance of the festival,” and that “our team attended emergency meetings with local authorities” when issues began to emerge earlier in the week. Ultimately, they claim, they received approval to continue. “This reaffirmation only confirmed what we already knew: we have always been fully authorized to deliver these events for our ticket holders,” they noted.

The statement elaborated, “Despite every effort made by our team, who have worked tirelessly from across the globe, there are forces at play in Costa Rica that seem intent on causing us and other electronic events to cease operations or fail.”

The BPM Festival is not alone in facing challenges while operating in Costa Rica. In November, the Envision Festival organizers announced that the event would not occur in 2025 following the alleged kidnapping of an attendee, Nicholas “Panda” Davila, who was later found dead three hours away from the festival site.

The 2025 edition of The BPM Festival Costa Rica was initially set to take place in a “jungle-like” environment in Guanacaste province. However, on Sunday, they informed attendees that they would “consolidate all festival programming in our original home base of Tamarindo.” According to The Tico Times, this decision followed a petition signed by 183 residents of nearby Playa Avellana expressing concerns about the event.

The petition claimed that the 2024 edition of The BPM Festival coincided with a rise in “fights, street brawls, and even homicides” in Tamarindo, mentioning a fatal incident in nearby Los Jobos. This reportedly led local officials to decide against hosting the 2025 festival. The report also indicated that the festival’s organizers had brought “machinery and equipment” to the site on December 28 without securing a liquor license or an approved surveillance plan.

“While authorities have not cited a specific reason for this year’s abrupt cancellation, we firmly believe that claims linking the cancellation to alleged incidents from 2024 are completely unfounded,” a BPM Festival spokesperson stated in an email to EDM Identity. “The festival has maintained an exemplary safety record throughout its three-year presence in Costa Rica. The shift to Tamarindo was solely a result of local government intervention days before the event, despite having secured all necessary permits months in advance for the originally planned location.”

“Even after this unexpected venue change, the festival obtained full legal authorization to operate in Tamarindo, where it has fostered strong relationships with local businesses and the community over the years,” the email continued. “The abrupt closure of BPM 2025, along with similar actions taken against other events like Labyrinto Festival in late 2024, seems to be part of a larger pattern affecting international electronic music events in Costa Rica, rather than a reaction to any specific security concerns.”

The BPM Festival, conceived by Craig Pettigrew and Phillip Pulitano, first took place in 2008 in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Following a tragic shooting in 2017 that resulted in four deaths and 15 injuries, the festival was relocated to Portugal, and after the pandemic, it found its current home. This year’s lineup featured house and techno artists like Jan Blomqvist, Francesca Lombardo, Manda Moor, and Malóne.

The BPM Festival Costa Rica organizers have announced that detailed information regarding refunds will be provided on Wednesday, January 15.

This article has been updated to include information regarding the petition signed by Playa Avellana locals and a statement from The BPM Festival.