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Ayahuasca Helped Inspire a BPM Festival Co-Founder’s New Dance Event Venture

In January Phillip Pulitano will host The Fifth Element festival in Puerto Rico, with a focus on making "a different movement in dance music culture."

During its nine-year tenure in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, the event drew tens of thousands of fans and a perpetually strong collection of techno, minimal and house music producers and DJs. “We went from being [on the verge of] a 50% buyout for $40 million to having to pick up one of our security guards and dear friends off the ground after he was shot.” While BPM continued its expansion plans, hosting editions in locations including Portugal and Tel Aviv, Israel and eventually finding a new permanent home in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, the 2017 attack was ultimately the first in a series of unfortunate events. While the team was able to host several smaller, renegade parties on nearby private land, Pulitano says the situation was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” creating a financial blow that cost BPM millions.

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