Music

Back-to-School? We Picked a Three-Day Rave in Cyprus Instead

BYYassine Hariss

September 30, 2025

Back-to-school season usually implies surrendering to all the habits we let go of over summer. But some people don’t live by that calendar. For them (ourselves included), summer isn’t over until they say it is, which is how we ended up boarding a plane to Cyprus for one of the last festivals of the season: BEONIX.

Located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island— in Limassol, to be precise— the three-day celebration of electronic music pulled in an eclectic crowd of party-goers from across neighboring countries. Lured in by the promise of beachside sets and perfect late-summer weather, more than 25,000 people made their way to watch A-list acts perform across four stages spread inside a former winery that’s been transformed into one of the island’s most distinctive venues, ETKO. With its hangar-style main hall, open-air courtyard, and pockets of smaller stages and chill-out corners, it became the playground for headliners like Armin van Buuren, Adriatique, Boris Brejcha, and Shima to do their thing. And they did it brilliantly.

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A post shared by BEONIX → trip to 9 planet (@beonix_festival)

The main stage was the obvious magnet, as it was where the biggest names on the line-up played, dopamine levels peaked most, and the party ran the latest. Loads of fun was had. Still, the Hangar Stage was our favorite spot: smaller, more intimate, and indoors (which somehow makes it easier to get in the mood). It also meant that there was way less risk of losing your mates in the crowd. Two floors allowed us to dance in front of the DJs or right above them, which gave the stage an edge of its own. The lineup there wasn’t stacked with headliners, but that only made it better. The DJs went harder, playing like they had something to prove, and kept the glorious chaos going back-to-back and until the festival finally shut its doors.

For someone like me– not exactly an EDM or techno die-hard— all it really took was a decent set, some fireworks, some lasers, and a roaring crowd above all to have a good time. And when it started to get a bit overstimulating, or just not quite my vibe, I would slip away for a bite at one of the food stalls, wander through the art installations— there were 15 this year, making it one of the biggest showcases of its kind on the island— or crash at one of the viewpoints that offered sweeping views of the festival grounds and the sun dipping (or rising, depending on how long you’d decided to stick around). If I wasn’t busy doing any of that, you would find me slouched somewhere, sipping through a straw and staring at one of the performance artists which for the most part were dancers on massive stilts. Maybe it was the drinks, but in the moment it felt oddly mesmerizing…a lot less so when I watched the videos back the next morning.

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A post shared by BEONIX → trip to 9 planet (@beonix_festival)

What probably makes BEONIX so special is that if you’re hanging, wrecked, or just need a break, Cyprus has everything you need to chill out. If you’re not wandering along the corniche or flopping on the nearest stretch of sand, you can spend the day hopping between family-run wineries, tasting what the island’s soil— and its vignerons — can pull off. Depending on how bad your head’s pounding, you might even get a cheeky history lesson or two; my favorite being the one about some crusaders who brewed up some pretty decent wine when they passed through the island centuries ago. I don’t know when that fact will ever come in handy, but I kind of hope it does.

For my first time — and hopefully not my last — I definitly had my fair share of fun and totally understand why people keep BEONIX pinned to the top of their September plans. With 2026 already promising to be bigger and wilder, I’m still recovering from this year’s edition with enough memories to replay, even more to scroll back on, and just enough questionable voice notes and random camera-roll clips to guarantee I’ll be back.

Back-to-School? We Picked a Three-Day Rave in Cyprus Instead

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Back-to-School? We Picked a Three-Day Rave in Cyprus Instead

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