Africa-Press – Cape verde. Cape Verde is the guest country at the 21st MED Festival, which takes place in June in Loulé, Algarve, and whose program includes music, gastronomy, cinema and visual arts, the organization announced this Tuesday.
“Mornas, cachupa, tabanca, pano di terra, grogue, funaná and much more: the sounds, colors and flavors of the Cape Verde Archipelago will set up camp in the Historic Area of Loulé, from June 26 to 29, at the 21st edition of the MED Festival”, according to the festival’s organization.
The MED program for the guest country of this year’s edition was revealed on Tuesday, at a press conference at the Cabo Verde Cultural Center, in Lisbon.
Cape Verde will present “its musical, cultural and gastronomic diversity, through various events throughout the festival days”. Something that, for the director of the MED Festival, Carlos Carmo, “allows us to create an even more diverse and global programme, bringing the excellence of Cape Verdean culture to Loulé”.
The musical program includes a concert in tribute to Cape Verdean singer Sara Tavares, who died in November 2023. The show features the participation of Shout, the Banda Filarmônica Sociedade Artistas de Minerva, the Mau Feitio project and other musicians, whose names will be announced soon.
Furthermore, performances by Ceuzany, Ferro Gaita, Dino D’Santiago with Tubarões, and the Cesária Évora Orquestra, “a project that celebrates and keeps alive the work of the legendary ‘Barefoot Diva’”, have been confirmed.
Cesária Évora’s name also appears in the Cinema MED programme, which includes three films with links to Cape Verde: “Sodade”, by Sarah Grace, which “explores deep themes such as love, betrayal and hate, through the story of characters who experience the challenges and dilemmas of the diaspora”, “Cesária Évora”, a documentary by Ana Sofia Fonseca about the life and career of the “greatest voice of Cape Verde”, and “Kmêdeus”, by Nuno Boaventura Miranda, which “portrays the intriguing story of an eccentric homeless man from the Island of São Vicente, known by many as crazy and by others as a great artist”.
During the festival, the exhibition “Cartographies Transatlantic” will be on display at the Espírito Santo Gallery, bringing together works by Fidel Évora, Jacira da Conceição, Amadeu Carvalho and Carlos Noronha Feio, “four artists whose connection with Cape Verde is simultaneously intimate and displaced”, since “they live outside the Archipelago, but build an ongoing dialogue with it — sometimes silent, but always present”.
The Cloister of the Convent of Espírito Santo, in the center of Loulé, will house the “Pátio”, a space where “all artistic manifestations will converge”.
During the MED, it will be possible to watch weaving, breadmaking, pottery and basketry being worked live, taste typical Cape Verdean food and drink, and listen to musicians playing batuque and cavaquinho live.
Furthermore, “through the streets and alleys of the Historic Area of Loulé, entertainment groups will parade, bringing some of the artistic manifestations and traditional rhythms such as tabanca, são djon, batuque and txabeta, mixing dances and drums”.
In the space dedicated to the ‘junior’ public, MED Kids, storyteller Adriano Reis will share Cape Verdean tales and children’s games.
For the mayor of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, this year’s edition of the MED “becomes even more special with Cape Verde as the guest country”.
“Loulé has a large Cape Verdean community and, in this sense, having this event under the banner of the 50th anniversary of Cape Verde’s independence will be a source of great joy. On the other hand, this multidisciplinary program is of incalculable importance for promoting the culture of a country with which we have such strong ties,” said the mayor.
Cape Verde Independence Day is celebrated on July 5th.
In March, Loulé City Council, which organizes the MED Festival, announced that this year the festival will feature “90 hours of music, 54 concerts, 338 musicians, 27 nationalities, 12 stages, 100 craft exhibitors, two art exhibitions and 12 groups of street artists.”
The program includes Salvador Sobral, who will perform with the Spanish artist Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Carminho, O Gajo & As Sanfonas da Ponte Velha, Stereossauro, Ana Lua Caiano and Pedro Joia, the last three in a project prepared for the festival.
The Malian Vieux Farka Touré, Jeneile Osborne, better known as Queen Omega, from Trinidad and Tobago, the Puerto Rican iLe, the Welsh Cerys Hafana, the Portuguese Milhana, A Garota Não, Valter Lobo will also be present at the MED.
Systema Solar (Colombia), Barrut (France), Balqeis (Egypt), Fulu Miziki (Democratic Republic of Congo), Sofian Saidi (Algeria), Justin Adams & Mauro Durante (United Kingdom/Italy), Shkoon (Syria/Germany), Alain Pérez y la Orquesta (Cuba), Paulo Flores (Angola), Tarwa-N-Tiniri (Morocco) are also confirmed on 21 MED.
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