We see if Elevation really is the best value music festival in Europe.

Now that most of the line-up at this year’s first Elevation Festival (Razlog 24th - 25th June) has been announced, we have been getting a lot of questions from SummerGuideBG.com users about the REAL cost of visiting the Razlog Valley this June.

A lot of Bulgarians and frequent visitors to Bulgaria often think of the Pirin Mountain resorts (such as Bansko) as expensive compared to the rest of the country so speculation about the true cost of visiting Elevation is rife, especially as many sceptics see this festival as a chance for local hoteliers to ramp up accommodation costs and really cash-in.

We have done some digging and asked some questions to help you plan your finances for what looks set to be the music event of the year for the Balkan region.

Why the Razlog Valley area?

We got in touch with the Elevation office in Sofia and asked them why they chose the Razlog area for the festival and we were given three (main) reasons:

1. Close proximity to Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Sofia makes Razlog easy to access for almost all potential visitors to the festival.
2. The summer months in the region are nowhere near as busy as the winter months which means there is somewhere in the region of 35,000 tourist beds [usually] empty at this time. This means good value accommodation options for those not wishing to camp are abundant.
3. An extremely helpful local Municipality; “Razlog and their Mayor have been behind us every step of the way” said one spokesman for Elevation.

So, it appears that “vale for money” was one of the main concerns for the organisers but will this be the actual experience of festival goers?

We take a look at the real costs involved with getting to and into this event.

Getting to Elevation

Having spoken to the organisers of Elevation, they have confirmed that they are arranging chartered coaches from all major cities in Bulgaria as well as large towns across the borders of neighboring countries. From Sofia, a return ticket will be around 50 Leva (€25) for a “door-to-door” service. Our initial thoughts were “competitive” and then we considered joining a bus load of music fans for the two and a half hour journey from Sofia and then thought “what fun”!!

If you are flying into Sofia from, let’s say, London, flights with Easy Jet can be had (with taxes) for just over £100 (just over  €115) with a quick cab ride to the capitals Central Bus Station costing around about 10 Leva (€5) by taxi. Also bear in mind that Bulgaria is an EU state so those traveling in from other EU states will have no worries with visas or associated fees.

Cost to get to Elevation (Razlog) from Sofia so far (per person): €25 if local, €145 if coming in (by plane - London to Sofia) from abroad.

Getting in to Elevation

Currently, Elevation are offering a 20% discount off the standard two day ticket which at only 96 Leva (€48 approx. – normally 120 Leva with family tickets and other options available) is outstanding value for money if you consider the two day line-up now includes Jamiroquai, 30 Seconds to Mars, Hurts and Stereo MC’s to name just a few of the seventeen international artists that have been announced so far (that’s only €2.80 per act by the way!).

Compare this to Serbia’s Exit Festival (OK, it’s bigger and been going longer but isn’t Elevations line-up so far better?!) which has a standard ticket price of around €120 it’s suddenly quite obvious that Elevation is cheap… really cheap!

Cost to Elevation so far (per person including local transport): €73

Sleeping at Elevation

Really?! You reckon?!

OK, so you have invested in ear plugs and you need to find somewhere to sleep.

If you brought your tent, unconfirmed reports claim that camping tickets for a two man tent are going to be around 10 Leva (€5) for the two day festival. Assuming you have not come to Elevation by yourself, that’s just over €1 a day each! But as these are unconfirmed reports we are going to look at the worst case scenario and search for hotel accommodation instead.

Surely we can get a bed and breakfast or a small family run hotel in Bansko for around €50 a night per room?

We spoke to a number of hotels in “expensive Bansko” and were offered rates that frankly shocked us! We spoke to the reception of one of the largest hotels in town, Bansko Royal Towers - an official “Partner Hotel” to Elevation – and were offered a one bedroom apartment in this centrally located four star (we think) complex which sleeps four people for only €30 per night for the apartment. That’s only €7.50 per person and your girlfriend gets a hair dryer and a shower which she can use while you go and “prepare yourself” in the hotels own spa centre or at their outdoor pool while you wait for her!

Cost to Elevation so far (per person based on two nights at Bansko Royal Towers, tickets and local transport): €88

Hidden Extras

So you have your swanky hotel room which you arrived at by a cheap coach, your cheap ticket to Elevation is in your hand, now this is when the organizers really stiff you! Right?!

Wrong!

“Hidden Extras” such as the bus fare from Bansko to the festival site (7km away) we have been told, do not exist for those staying in Partner Hotels. Most of these hotels have their own transfer buses normally used to take people to Bansko’s ski lifts in the winter and they have agreed to offer a free transfer service to the site.

Nice!

Now all you have to worry about is where all festivals make their money; expensive food and drink.

Cost of hidden extras - €0 (Yayyyyyyyy!)

Partying At Elevation

So you have now spent a total of €88 getting to and sleeping at Elevation. How much money are you going to need at the event itself?

Traditionally, this is where festival organizers see Euro signs and make their captive audiences pays three times the price for a beer compared to other local drinking options. It goes with the territory and unfortunately Elevation operates a policy where you can’t bring in your own food and drink which is pretty standard too.

So based on the cheap ticket price, a large beer is going to be around €4… you would expect.

Not according to Elevation staff! We could not pin them down exactly but the guys we spoke to said they were negotiating with a major “international” brewery and they were trying to fix the price of a large beer at around 2 Leva (€1).

Yes… €1!

So the kebabs and hot-dogs are going to be three times the price right? Wrong again apparently.

In fact, the guys we spoke to said that their aim was for festival visitors to be able to feed and water themselves for around 5 Leva (€2.50) per main meal.

So back to the maths… you had breakfast in your hotel so you need two meals per day (€5 x 2 = €10) and it is the summer, it will be hot so you are probably going to drink at least ten beers a day - well I would anyway – that’s €20 (€ 1 x 10 = € 10 x 2 = €20).

So for all your food and drink at Elevation, you have spent the princely sum of €30.

Total cost so far (Per person including accommodation, transport, ticket, food and beverage): €118

So, is Elevation really good value?

For two days of international live music, a good quality hotel with all the bells and whistles plus transport to the event, around the event and all your food and drink requirements whilst you party at Elevation and the Grand Total is…

€118 per person!

We say “yes” but you decide!