The arrival of August

Sure, your reputation precedes you – think traffic jams, clubbing queues, restaurant over-bookings, higher hotel rates, over-crowded beaches, hot weather, short tempers and more – but I wouldn’t swap August in Ibiza for anywhere else in the world. Let me tell you why…

*It’s a celebrity haven! I love a bit of star spotting and so far we’ve had visits from P.Diddy (swoon – who else is on the guest list for his V.V.I.P villa party tonight?), Paris Hilton, Mischa Barton and Elle MacPherson among others, and then there are all the A-listers we don’t see, sequestered in their plush villas high in the hills of the north. Well, we haven’t seen them yet. But my eyes are WIDE OPEN.

*There are fireworks! Everyone loves a good fireworks display and Ibiza’s best takes place in August – tonight in fact, August 8 at about 10pm in Ibiza town. Whether you choose to watch from a spot on the beach, in the port or in one of Marina Botafoch’s best restaurants, the colourful display is always the perfect way to kick off your August party season… or to get a Katy Perry song stuck in your head.

*There’s no hoo ha about the Olympics! There’s nowhere to watch the Olympics. There’s no pressure to support a team. There’s no evidence of any Olympic activity whatsoever (as long as you avoid Facebook that is) Yes, that’s right I’m an Olympic Grinch and Ibiza is my games-free zone. You can’t smell any team spirit from where I’m sitting and that’s just the way I like it. Not even the thought of cute boys wearing Stella McCartney could get me to tune in. Take me to the beach…

*White Ibiza escapes to Formentera! For the first time ever, we have a team de-camped to our neighboring slice of paradise to check out all the action on that other Balearic Island for the month of August. Check out our daily blog for our new daily discoveries, places to eat, sleep, shop and of course, relax…

*The very, very best parties all take place in August of course – the reason so many stars (and regular folk) converge on our little island! This month sees Jade Jagger’s Jezebel take over Atzaro Beach every Friday for ‘1971’ the cool surf and turf themed party with awesome guest DJs, the mega Space 23^rd birthday party with Chemical Brothers on Sunday, Groove Armada and Neneh Cherry hitting the pop-up Groucho Club on August 15 in the name of charity – Teenage Cancer Trust; the super cool Quintessentially ¡Espiritu Latino! with The Correspondents and The Cuban Brothers at Aura (an amazing package including dinner and drinks is available) on August 23, the annual Boujis Blanco party that sees the hip London nightspot transport itself to Ibiza at a secret location on August 25. And so many more (see my previous point for tonight’s destination!). See you on the dance floor!