For the past ten years, the BPM Festival has been a staple for fans of electronic music, bringing in around 70,000 participants yearly for the ten day festival in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Unfortunately, the festival’s legacy has now been marred by the mass shooting that happened this past Monday (January 16) at Blue Parrot nightclub. The shooting, which happened on the last night of the festival, left five dead and fifteen wounded.
In light of the shooting, The BPM Festival – and all similar electronic music events – has reportedly been banned from Playa del Carmen.
“At this moment, our general stance is not to allow BPM to perform here,” said Mayor of Solidaridad and President of the Business Coordinating Council of the Riviera Maya Cristina Torres Gómez in a Monday press conference.
According to Run The Trap, a Mexican drug cartel has taken responsibility for the shootings, based on a news report showing a blanket with writing on it, which RTT says is “a common way of sending mass messages by cartels across the country.”
While BPM is currently not allowed to return to Playa del Carmen, the festival announced last week that it will expand to Brazil and Portugal later this year. Updates on the festival can be found at thebpmfestival.com.
