BPM Festival Indefinitely Canceled By Local Officials

BPM Festival Canceled

Following the confirmation of 5 deaths and 15 injuries from the shooting that happened Monday morning at the Blue Parrot night club, Cristina Torres Gómez, Municipal President of the Business Coordinating Council of the Riviera Maya, has announced to the public today that BPM Festival, as well as ALL similar events of this nature, are canceled and will not be returning to Playa del Carmen, México.

“At this moment, our general stance is not to allow BPM to perform here. It is a decision that we have to make together; we have to analyze the type of destination that we want to have, what kind of events we want to…promote and, above all, what that event entails, what the regulatory framework will be for these kinds of events,” Gómez said.

According to El Universal, the shooting occurred when an armed man entered the Blue Parrot nightclub at around 3:00am during the closing of BPM Festival. Another individual tried to stop the armed man, sparking the shooting that left 3 BPM Festival security workers and 2 others dead, as well as 15 more injured. One woman died as a result from the stampede of people trying to evacuate the building.

“We’re asking for these kinds of events to go away. Don’t let in anymore. We don’t want BPM here anymore, or any other similar event. We don’t want it and we thank the authorities who are listening,” Maria Helena Mata Pineda, President of the Business Coordinating Council in the Riviera Maya, told El Universal.

While undoubtedly tragic, the cancelation of BPM Festival in the future, as well as all similar types of events, is sure to gravely impact Mexico’s tourism industry. Playa del Carmen has been a major attraction site for visitors from around the world, thanks to the region’s tropical climate and the peso’s weak exchange rate.

“We want to generate jobs in a healthy environment, that healthy tourists come and leave here their currency in an atmosphere of warmth and health in which families and we can live in peace.”

As of now, the future of BPM Festival is unsure, but our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of all those affected by this tragic event.

In addition to this news, there are also new reports suggesting that there were multiple shooters. Billboard retrieved this statement from an attendee:

“They got denied because they didn’t want to be patted down…Three of them left out of our vision and two of them shot security guards at the entrance, ran in and aimlessly opened fire. There were two guys there, not one like the news incorrectly reports.

Outside the club it seemed like there were people actually squaring up as though it might have been cartel-related…It gave them the feeling that something was about to happen.”