The south of Portugal had its love affair with music, just two weeks ago with Festival Med 23 and Afro Nation in the region of Algarve. Now, the city of Sines, a little more to the north of Algarve and just 150 km south of Lisbon, will have a chance to shine.
Sines and the village of Porto Covo will host, from the 22nd and 29th of July, the 23rd edition of the FMM Sines – World Music Festival, with 42 concerts by musicians from four continents. From the 22nd to the 24th of July, the world music festival will take place in the village of Porto Covo. On the 25th, it moves to the city of Sines, where it will remain until the 29th.
In this edition, musicians from 27 countries will be represented: Armenia, Brazil, Cape Verde, South Korea, Cuba, Spain, Estonia, France, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Jamaica, Lebanon, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, United Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Syria, Sudan, and Venezuela.
From the Americas, the festival will be the stage for four concerts by Brazilian musicians (Céu, Chico César, Gilsons and Orquestra Maré do Amanhã) and two of Mexico’s greatest voices: the renowned Lila Downs and Silvana Estrada. Cuba is represented by Cimafunk and Jamaican music by the collective Inna de Yard and singer-songwriter Brushy One String as well.
African artists, on the other hand, will perform 15 concerts. From the most northerly part of the continent arrive the French-Moroccan Bab L’Bluz and the Tuareg band that made desert blues a global phenomenon, Tinariwen. From Mali comes singer Rokia Koné and the band Bamba Wassoulou Groove. Also, from West Africa, the Senegalese Lass, the Ghanaians Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy and one of the greatest artists from the continent, Nigeria’s Nneka. The heart of Africa is represented by the Congolese group Kin’Gongolo Kiniata and the Madalitso Band, which makes Malawi’s debut at the festival.
Three legendary groups from Portuguese-speaking African countries, Os Tubarões (Cape Verde), Africa Negra (São Tomé and Príncipe) and Ghorwane (Mozambique) are also set to perform at FMM Sines this year.
A special mention goes to Guinea-Bissau, which will have its largest delegation in Sines in 2023, with Tabanka Djaz, Eneida Marta and another historic band, Super Mama Djombo.
Portugal will appear in 2023, again, in a broad register, starting with the jazz of Maria João & Carlos Bica Quartet, which finally materialize the meeting in Sines that the pandemic postponed. Instrumental music is brought by Tó Trips Trio and by Expresso Transatlântico and the new generation of female singer-songwriters by The girl not, Rita Vian and Rita Braga.
Also from Portugal, comes one of the greatest voices of fado, Carminho, and Sines will also have the artist B Facade and a tribute to the viola-campaniça, by RAIA.
The festival’s European contingent includes Spanish “folk agitator” Rodrigo Cuevas; psychedelic music by French act Brama; the traveling piano by the French-Venezuelan La Chica; the folk atmospheres by Estonian Mari Kalkun; and a classic of punk and ska crossovers, the British band The Selecter.
From the Arab world and the Middle East, the Syrian-Lebanese duo Bedouin Burger makes its debut and the AlQasar group returns, in a meeting with the Sudanese artist Alsarah.
There is also a place for Pakistani qawwali party, in fusion with Arabic sounds, in the project Alright Mela Meets Santoo and many more.
In addition to the concerts, FMM Sines 2023 offers a program of parallel activities.
More information about FMM Sines – World Music Festival.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central