7th edition of the Iberian Festival Awards

There are two more awards to add to its list of awards: Festival MED was distinguished this Saturday, at the Grand Auditorium of Forum da Maia, at the 7th edition of the Iberian Festival Awards, in the categories of Best Tourism Promotion in the Iberian Peninsula and Best Lusophone and Hispanic Festival.

“We leave this gala happy for, once again, being part of the lot of events distinguished in these awards. Iberian are, without a doubt, a barometer of the best that is produced in terms of this festival industry, whether in terms of artists, organization, production, partners, spaces, among others. These two awards are the culmination of yet another year in which we managed to hold a high-quality MED, which deserved praise from spectators but also recognition from the specialized press and other organizers”, said the director of the event and councilor of the Municipality of Loulé , Carlos Carmo. He underlined that these distinctions are, above all, the result of “the commitment and dedication of all the workers of the Municipality of Loulé who make this event happen”.

Carlos Carmo ended his intervention with a special thanks to APORFEST – Associação Portuguesa de Festivals de Música, in the person of Ricardo Bramão and Marta Azevedo, for “believing in the production of festivals and for the relevance of these initiatives, linked to music and beyond, as elements that promote tourism and cultural activities, from the country to the world and from the world to the country”.

After, in 2018 and 2020, having been distinguished as the festival that most promotes tourism in the national panorama, this time the award had a broader character – this distinction concerns events throughout the Iberian Peninsula.

As part of the cultural program of a region focused on tourism, this event has strongly contributed to attracting more tourists to the Algarve and the country, boosting the economy and raising awareness levels. Increasingly, it is a tourist attraction factor: 40% of the Festival's visitors are foreign tourists, especially the Spanish, British and French; of these, 39% already choose to come to the Algarve at this time of year because of the MED Festival.

The impact on the local economy is reflected in a considerable increase in hotel occupancy rates (from 50% to 80%), as well as the positive impact on restaurants where sales increases of 50% can be seen.

On the other hand, the Loulé event repeated the feat achieved in 2020, by winning the prize for Best Lusophone and Hispanic Festival in these Iberian Festival Awards.

With a strong focus on national music and also on projects from the PALOPS or Brazil, the Portuguese language was once again in focus in this edition of the MED Festival, thus pursuing one of its missions: to disseminate and value this fundamental aspect of our Culture. Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde or Angola joined the range of nationalities on the poster, through names such as Aline Frazão, Mallu Magalhães, Johnny Hooker, Creatura, Viviane, RE:Imaginar Banda Monte Cara, among others. Names that brought to this stage all the richness of the language of Camões, adapted to different universes and musical territories.

On the other hand, given the geographic proximity to Spain, Castilian has also done over the years of the MED alignment, whether through Spanish projects or artists from Latin America, and the 2022 edition was no exception. An example of this was the presence of Rodrigo Cuevas, Victor Zamora&Sexteto Cuba, Guetto Kumbé or Eskorzo.

It should be noted that, unlike other categories in which there is a Portuguese/Spanish winner and an Iberian winner, in this case a single prize is awarded.

There are now 8 Iberian Festival Awards won by Festival MED since the launch of these awards.

Remember that, from June 29 to July 2, the MED is back in the Historic Area of Loulé. Among the names already confirmed are Amadou&Mariam (Mali), Bia Ferreira (Brazil), Bulimundo (Cape Verde), Horace Andy (Jamaica) or the Portuguese Sétima Legião and Pedro Mafama.

It should be noted that this Monday, March 13, the pre-sale period for tickets for MED'23 begins. Tickets can be purchased with a reduced price, in the Diary, Festival and Family categories. Tickets can be purchased at Cineteatro Louletano or through the BOL platform (www.bol.pt)

All information in https://www.facebook.com/festivalmedloule