By REGINA GONZALEZ
Sunday Funday has taken a new turn for electronic dance music lovers in the Tampa Bay area since since early this summer.
At the beginning of June, Beach Bar Restaurant, located on the Courtney Campbell Causeway and previously known as Hogan’s Beach, announced its partnership with electronic music tour promoter Insomniac Events. The company has organized a number of music festivals in Florida including it’s flagship Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando and Ultra Music Festival in Miami; but with those events drawing thousands of fans in from all over the world, Beach Bar’s collaboration has managed to bring the same headlining DJs to a local atmosphere.
Adventure Club, Marshmello, Flostradamus, Yellow Claw, Diplo and Steve Aoki are just a few of the popular artists that Insomniac has brought to Beach for Sunday shows, and good music along with a vibrant atmosphere has made the location a prime spot for UT students let loose and enjoy the weekend.
The 20,000 square foot indoor/outdoor venue features three bars, a restaurant, outdoor stage, deck lounge with cabana seating, and a staircase that leads down to a sand bar with enough room to dock a boat or jetski.
“The location is beautiful since it’s right on the ocean,” junior biology major and EDM fan Sammy Simon said. “Especially at sunset when you do a 360 and it’s the beach, amazing lights and graphics, awesome music and so many people dancing and having a great time, it just makes you want to spend every Sunday there.”
An additional plus for fans is the joy of paying a reasonable amount of money to see mainstream performers.
“Ticket prices are definitely a huge factor in why so many people go,” accounting major Alexandra Gedzior said. “Even though they’re much bigger, I’ve been to Ultra and EDC where tickets are four hundred and two hundred dollars. At beach bar you pay $25 to $45 max for general admission and you’re seeing the same big names that are usually at those festivals.”
With the mainstream DJs usually playing later in the evening, the party starts way before that, with aspiring DJs from around the U.S. and the Tampa area mixing in the afternoon leading up to the main event.
“You really do get a lot for your money because when you buy a ticket it’s basically for an all day event,” said international business and world affairs major Megan Klein.
Since summer doesn’t end in the sunshine state, Sunday Funday at Beach Bar will go straight into December with upcoming shows featuring DJ Snake on Nov. 13, Showtek on Nov. 20 and Robin Schultz Dec. 4. With such a high attendance rate of Florida music lovers already, it’s only a matter of time before we see what the collaboration has in store for next year.
Regina Gonzalez can be reached at regina.gonzalez@theminaretonline.com