MED is “solid and strong” not only in music, but also “in its other aspects”, such as literature, cinema and handicrafts. The final show of the festival took place on Friday night, June 2, at the Cineteatro Louletano, and featured a concert by Eneida Marta, the first confirmation of 2024.
From June 29 to July 2, world music will once again immerse the historic center of Loulé, in the 19th edition of MED, which has been consolidated as one of its mottos.
“We support the concepts and give solidity to the Mediterranean city to prepare it for the 2024 edition in which we celebrate 20 years and we will have many novelties,” Carlos Carmo, director of the festival, told reporters.
In all, there will be 12 stages in the MED: not “all physical structure, but areas of performance”. There will be 5 major stages and 7 minor stages, the last being of smaller dimension, «but of similarly high quality».
Cineteatro Louletano hosts once again the opening concert of the MED Festival, on the eve of the opening of the venue, on June 28, at 9 pm, with the first appearance in Portugal of the artist from Haiti / the United States, Melanie Charles. Festival ticket holders get free entry.
On the Bicas Velhas Theatre, it is supervised by Bóia – Associação Cultural, with an “out of the box” multidisciplinary programme. Here you will perform Rastafogo (June 29), Meta- (June 30) and a direct verb With the Brazilians Venga Venga (July 1), a band that will also be on one of the main stages of the DJ set.
An ever-present figure at this festival, “Vagabundo” Nanook takes over the Palco Arco for three days, while Amar Guitarra, another presence almost since the festival’s inception, returns to the Palco Mercado.
On the main stages, Circa, Castillo, Fountain and Bath, artists Amadou and Mariam (Mali), Amaro Freitas (Brazil), Iowa (Morocco / France), Banda Adriatica (Italy), Pandoa (Portugal), Patio Mato (Portugal) will take to the stage, Pia Ferreira (Brazil), Polimondo (Cape Verde), Club Macumba (Portugal), Horace Andy (Jamaica), Lavoisier (Portugal), Omar Suleiman (Syria), Onepa (Ghana/UK), Sarah Correia (Portugal), Sarah McCoy (USA), Sétima Legião (Portugal) and Pedro Mafama (Portugal).
They are joined by Kabaka Pyramid (Jamaica), UDJAT Invitational Pedro Jóia (Portugal), Balkan Taksim (Romania), Nancy Vieira (Guinea-Bissau), Moonshiners Invitational Samuel Úria (Portugal), Nicola Conte Umoja feat. Zara MacFarlane (Italy/UK), Monda (Portugal), Boyle Ueda (Japan/France), No Secret. Tomasa (Spain), Zeca Medeiros (Portugal), DJ Nuno Galopim (Portugal), Jean Christian et le Quator des Rêve Enfouis (Canada/Portugal), Tomoro (Japan), Caamaño & Ameixeiras (Spain), Carpideira (Portugal), Ana Lua Caiano (Russia/Portugal), Miguel Calaz (Portugal), Marco Martinezlo Profile (Portugal) and Venga Venga DJ Set + Live Act (Brazil).
One of the big news is the return of MED to Café Calcinha.
Afonso Dias will take charge over three days, in two moments a day for about 40 minutes, to present a different musical, from Zeca Afonso to Jacques Brel, from Carlos do Carmo to the song of protest, for example.
Casa da Cultura will have its literary moments, under Tápê, with the return of the “Poesias do Mundo” project. The goal is for this to be a space for sharing and inclusion, always with the word as a motto.
Initiatives such as MED Classic and MED Jazz will also return. Regarding the first, there will be, on June 29 and 30 and July 1, concerts by Duo Guirimbadu, Caminus Duo and Quintetango in Igreja Matriz.
On the second day, MED Classic moves to the main stage, at 21.00, a concert by students of the Conservatório de Música de Loulé – Francisco Rosado, whose formation will be an orchestra with choir.
The curator will be Sergio Light, Director of the Professor Francisco Rosado Conservatory of Music.
As for MED Jazz, it will take place, like last year, in the corridors of the convent, with the support of Mákina de Cena, a cultural association from Loulé.
Every day there will be music, at 8:30pm and 10:30pm, with the likes of Marco Martins’ Low Profile, FUSHI and Leon Baldesberger’s Meersalz.
In addition to this range of activities, handicrafts (more than 100 stalls), the exhibition “Corpos Celestes”, by Adriana João, Bruno Silva, Joana da Conceição and José Jesus, in the art gallery of the convent, and the entertainment street, with Names like Alfenfer.
Among the other returns is the cinema cycle in which Rui Pedro Tendenha will be as coordinator.
This year is the new venue, located next to the Art Gallery, with the recreation of a real cinema room where films will be shown and a venue for concerts.
In addition to an exhibition of Sophia Student’s award-winning short films, there will be a special moment.
This is the screening of the movie “A Viagem do Rei”, which we will have in it an offer With artist Roy Raininho making the soundtrack. This Moment will take place on July 2nd, at 5 p.m., at Cineteatro Louletano.
Once again, the Loulé Design Lab incubators take an active part in the decoration of the spaces of the place, by “reusing the waste that is considered a resource and giving beauty to the place”. This was the case last year at Palco Hammam and at Cinema MED, and this year other areas will benefit from the creativity of these designers.
In street art, partnerships are being strengthened with Satori, Al-Fanfarre and also with Câmara de Almodôvar to present Cante Alentejano, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
But international folklore will be in force at MED, within the scope of “very close work done with Casa da América Latina” and, in this edition, collections from Mexico, Colombia and Paraguay. For the 20th edition, there is promise of “input on the matter.”
Once again, the educational services of the Municipal Library are responsible for promoting MED Kids, a space for younger children that receives children from 6 to 12 years old every day, for activities linked to the spirit of the world’s cultures.
At the open day, Sunday 2 July, the organization wants to “allow all people who were unable to be present on the three days, to understand a little about the dynamics and environment of MED”. Without the big concerts, some programs are planned, such as the Coro Conservatório performance in Igreja Matriz, Cinema MED in Cineteatro and some Culinary shows Mediterranean diet.
Vitor Aleixo, Mayor of Lule, spoke about the prestige the event has achieved in nearly two decades. “Also thanks to MED, Lolly has become well known in the country,” he said.
“The city is pleased to organize this edition of the festival. We will have the possibility to listen to artists who come from many parts of the world, with their music, culture, diversity and everything that makes life beautiful … This is the atmosphere that we intend to create every year in this historical center of the city of Lule and we have succeeded so far ».
Tickets are on pre-sale, at reduced prices, until June 25: day ticket (10 euros), festival ticket (three-day ticket) – 30 euros and family day ticket (2 adults and 2 children up to 16 years old) – 35 euros.
