As the lineup for next year's event continues to take shape, we spoke to festival programmer Craig Pettigrew.

After its first announcement last month, organisers have added a number of house and techno names to the bill, including Agoria, Âme, Recondite, Psychemagik, Anja Schneider, PillowTalk, Benoit & Sergio, Derrick Carter, Sebo K, Ellen Allien, Jay Shepheard, Jimmy Edgar, Marcus Worgull, No Regular Play and Pete Tong. In total more than 250 acts will appear at the festival, which kicks off on January 3rd and runs through to the 12th in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
The 2014 edition will also see a number of parties—including Circo Loco, Music-On, ENTER. and Lee Burridge's All Day I Dream—held twice over the festival's ten-day duration. We spoke with BPM programmer Craig Pettigrew to find out more about what festival-goers can expect:
In 2014 you will host two editions of select parties. Why did you decide to do this?
We decided that with the overwhelming response to certain parties, it would be a nice addition to add a beach party to complement the night events. This also gives people the chance to go to their favorite events if they can't come for the full 10 days.
Tell us how you came to select the new labels that will stage showcases this year?
We pay a lot of attention to up-and-coming producers and labels, but we're also working with established artists and labels this year as well. New to BPM in 2014 are Dynamic, Drumcode, Ovum, BPitch Control, Planet E, Mood, Bromance, Hotflush, Noir Music, Union, French Express and Kraftek, so we're really excited for some new fresh things for people to enjoy.
You're entering your seventh year. How has the scene in your neck of the woods changed in that time?
There are definitely changes happening in Playa del Carmen nightlife, with new clubs popping up and some others that are about to get built. I'm really excited to see what happens next year as one of our marquee venues is planning to shut down for a complete remodel—the plans for the new venue are absolutely stunning and will set the tone for clubs in Latin America.
Will you be utilising the same venues in 2014 as in previous years?
We are still using our marquee venues, Blue Parrot, Coco Maya, Mamitas Beach Club and Kool Beach, and we are also adding three new venues this year. For day parties, we've added Fusion Beach Club, located right on one of the most beautiful beach areas in Playa Del Carmen—it has a bohemian vibe reminiscent of Ibiza in the early days. For night parties we've added Lost, which is a brand new club being built specifically to showcase electronic music all year round in Playa. We've also added Tabu, which is an existing club in the same area as Blue Parrot, but it has a more intimate vibe, where we will be showcasing the new Pioneer soundsystem. We really take pride in the sound engineering for all the venues, so we have brought in George Stavro from Sonic Lab Audio to outfit all the venues so they will be consistent sonically and have superior sound for both the fans and the DJs.
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