Portugal – World Music will be back in the Historical Centre of Loulé. Between 28th June and 2nd July, the 3rd edition of the Festival of the Mediterranean will take place, with great international names. The event will feature three platforms: the Palco do Castelo, Palco da Cerca and the Palco das Bicas, where around 28 artists will perform in 32 concerts, apart from which there will be theatre, gastronomy, handicrafts, literature and exhibitions.
The Spanish act Amparanoia, winners of the “World Music Award 2005” of the BBC, are one of the most anticipated attractions. The group is led by the charismatic Amparo Sánchez.
Think of One is a project of Belgian roots, which has made the approximation to other universes such as Moroccan music and, overall, the sounds of Northwest Brazil. The group worked in Brazil with local musicians, as a way of taking an active part in their music. The result is a mixture of jazz, funk, folk, rock, dub and reggae, with local influences of fevo, afoxé, coco, maracuta de baque, samba and bossanova. They were winners of the “World Music Award 2004”, attributed by the BBC.
From Algeria comes Souad Massi, another distinguished project by the BBC with various nominations, and the big winner in the category “Middle East/North Africa” this year.
Also highlighted is the Israeli Yasmin Levy, who touches on the more orthodox musical tradition of that country, mixing Mediterranean rhythms and flamenco; Scottish band Capercaillie, the principal representatives of current popular Celtic music, with a clear influence of electronic sounds and rock; the Babylon Circus, a promising project hailing from France which crosses reggae with French sounds and the Orchestre National de Barbés, another French band, with 15 musicians on
stage.
From Portugal, the principal name in this edition of the Festival is Cristina Branco, the fado singer who became a pop star in the Benelux countries (Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg). The Portuguese-speaking countries also mark their presence with the participation of Manecas Costa from Guinea, who have developed an original sound, synthesizing the cultural roots of Guinea-Bissau with more current musical tendencies.
In addition to the music, gastronomy is another of the strong points of the Festival which will bring to Loulé the characteristic flavors of the countries of the Mediterranean Basin. In the event there will be various restaurants offering representations of the traditional cuisine of each one of the countries, namely Greece, Morocco and Italy. Obviously, there will be no lack of Portuguese cuisine, featuring especially Algarvian dishes.
With regard to exhibitions, in the Galeria de Arte of the Convento Espírito Santo an exhibition will be open to the public of paintings by Marika Raake, an artist who combines a sense of fantasy with formal capacities.
Handicrafts equally have a privileged space in the traditional fair of products from the region, as well as street and stage theatre, with performances by companies from the region.
The price of a daily ticket is 7 euros. The festival ticket, which gives access every day to the event, has a price of 25 euros.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central