By Charlie Charalambous
LONDON garage club promoters are focusing on Ayia Napa this year to establish a scene which will rival Ibiza’s heyday.
Yesterday’s London Evening Standard reported how hard-nosed clubbers were flying in from the UK to hear top DJs host party nights at Ayia Napa clubs Twice As Nice, P’zazz and Pasha.
The admission fee in Napa is less than a quarter of what it costs in Ibiza, drinks are cheaper and drugs are not so prevalent.
Garage devotees can be spotted at local bars like Marinella and at the Pelican Bar on Nissi Beach, where clubbers hang out with the DJs.
The scene has boomed so much that Channel 4 television has taken out a crew to follow a group of ravers in search of a good time in Cyprus.
The first signs that Ayia Napa was moving away from the standard tourist fare of cheesy disco nights came when Pure Silk — a popular Friday night session in London — had a successful try out.
“The Greek Cypriots love the garage sound,” said Pure Silk business partner ‘Kiri’ told the Standard.
“Ayia Napa is cheaper (than Ibiza) and has nicer beaches,” said the London Cypriot.
However, acquiring the Med’s “best clubland” label does not come easy to the gaudy, sprawling strip of Ayia Napa.
“It’s horrible. Everything here is so sub-standard — the drink, the food, the men. The minute you land, there are girls walking about with two bottles of lager, burping. I feel like I’m in a Vizcartoon,” Dionne Maynes, 31, employed at Pasha as a meeter and greeter.
The resort may not be sophisticated, but the marketing operation behind it is.
Despite the success of Shank’s and Bigfoot’s chart-topping Sweet Like Chocolate, garage has still not crossed over into the mainstream. Its audience is largely black, urban and London-based.
Shrewd operators like Steve Gordon, promoter of Twice As Nice, have looked at the Ibiza industry and spotted a brilliant opportunity in untapped Cyprus to reach a mixed, nationwide audience.
By the time the tourists are back home watching their tans fade away, Twice As Nice In Ayia Napa should be doing big business in the shops.
Nevertheless, one DJ puts a different spin on why Cyprus is becoming the new Ibiza.
“It’s hot and the girls are very randy.”
