THE FULL programme HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

20th MED Festival: More music and programme of other cultural events have been announced

The MED Festival presented, this Saturday, at the iconic Café Calcinha, the complete programme of the different cultural aspects in addition to Music – from Cinema to Poetry, from Street Arts to Visual Arts, including the Conference or Folklore and Gastronomy.

At the same time, the organisation also announced what is being prepared for the Open Day, Sunday, 30th June. An open day with free entry, allowing all visitors to feel a little of the reel atmosphere of MED. In musical terms, it was revealed what is planned for the three stages which, although smaller in terms of space, always offer great and unique experiences: Café Calcinha, Palco Mercado and MED Classic.

Carlos Carmo, Councillor for the Municipality of Loulé and director of the MED Festival, brought new information about a programme based on ‘fusion, diversity and the fact that it has no borders’.

The seventh art is once again in the spotlight and, one more time, Rui Tendinha is the curator of Cinema MED, which combines cinema and music in a space next to Casa da Empreita, where the film directors will be present as well. On the first day of the Festival, the 27th, at 19h15, Rita Braga presents the film-performance ‘Bandas Sonoras’, followed by the documentary ‘Cara de Espelho’. At 22h30, there's a DJ set with Sónia Balacó. On the 28th, at 19h15, there's a viewing party for ‘As Berlengas’, Benjamin's film-album, by Bruno Ferreira. This will be followed by the presentation of the short film ‘Seres Vivos’, by Margarida Fonseca (winner of the Sophia Student Awards 2024, awarded by the Portuguese Film Academy). At 22h30, Bruno Ferreira and Benjamim present a DJ set. On the 29th, the proposal is 'Never wake up again’, by Ernesto Rodrigues and Gonçalo Almeida, a musical reinterpretation of Gonçalo Almeida's fantastic cinema. Cinema MED closes at 22h30 with DJ Pedro Ramos.

João Pedro Caliço ‘Tápê’ brings us, once more, a programme of Poetry of the World, at the same venue as Cinema MED, every day at 20h30. In the year that the MED Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary, and Portugal marks the 50th anniversary of the ‘Carnation Revolution’, there could be no more appropriate theme than Freedom. All the participants, from different nationalities, will recite poetry alluding to this theme, further enriching the MED's cultural experience.

Literature will also be represented at the MED Conference, in the Casa do Meio Dia space. On the 28th, at 18h30, the Moroccan author Mahi Binebine will present his book ‘The Slave's Sleep’. This will be followed by a conference on the theme ‘Materialising words - From writing to civic action’ where, in addition to this writer, the author Lídia Jorge, from Loulé, will also participates.

Sustainability and creativity come together in the pieces created as part of Loulé Design Lab's ‘Infinity’ project, which will decorate various areas of the premises. By reusing waste, furniture such as tables or benches and decorative elements were built and will be available for the public to enjoy. This year, the designers were challenged to present a piece commemorating MED’s 20 years, combining the ancestral techniques of the artisans with their more contemporary vision.

Calcinha, a ‘Café with History’, an identity space inseparable from the figure of the poet António Aleixo, hosts a double daily concert, at 20h00 and 22h00, with Eduardo Ramos (on the 27th), Amar Guitarra (on the 28th) and Nanook o Vagabundo (on the 29th).

Another building that is part of Loulé's heritage is the Municipal Market, another of the Festival's musical stages. ‘Discossauro’ is Miguel Neto's ‘vinílico’ project which, in the 20th anniversary of MED, offers 3 sets, covering the sounds of different parts of the planet: “Around South America in 60 discs”, “Around Africa in 60 discs” and “Around the PALOPS in 60 discs”. The music festival takes place in the Market from 19h00 to 22h00.

Year after year, the MED Classic attracts a loyal audience, especially from abroad, to Loulé's Igreja Matriz, the ideal stage for more erudite sounds. This year's programme includes the Cklavi Trio (27th June), the Russian pianist Rem Urasin (28th June) and the Matosinhos String Quartet (29th June). The concerts take place at 19h45. On the Open Day, 30th June, at 19h00, the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Loulé Music Conservatory - Francisco Rosado will join the MED Classic. The Conservatoire's director, Sérgio Leite, is in charge of the curatorship.

On this Open Day Sunday, when the organisation opens its doors (free entry) to everyone who wants to experience a bit of the MED spirit, three special and unique concerts will be presented. At 20h15, on the Hammam Stage, the EmCadeamentos Musicais Ensemble will perform a concert of Mediterranean-influenced music from medieval times. On the Cerca Stage, at 21h15, ‘MED 20 anos’ is the proposal from Grafonola Voadora & Napoleão Mira. It's also at Cerca that, at 22h30, Marenostrum will be celebrating their 30th anniversary, in a commemorative concert with the Artistas de Minerva Philharmonic Orchestra as a special guest.

Gastronomy will also be in focus on this open day, with two showcookings that take place at Alcaidaria do Castelo, dedicated to the Mediterranean Diet, one by the Associação In Loco (7:30 pm) and another by Tertúlia Algarvia (9:30 pm). Some participating restaurants in the city will also develop menus inspired by the Mediterranean Diet, served during MED days.

In terms of Street Arts, some “historical partnerships” are being revived, such as the one the organization maintains with the Municipality of Almodôvar to bring in Cante Alentejano groups, or the participation of the municipality’s folkloric groups. The Satori Association, Al-Fanfare or Rhakatta will liven up the streets, while, under the partnership with Casa da América Latina, a folkloric group from Colombia joins this entertainment program.

MED Kids is once again the space dedicated to the youngest, with a set of activities developed by the Municipal Library.

During this presentation, Carlos Carmo highlighted the presence of the guest country, the Kingdom of Morocco, with a program that includes two art exhibitions and a photography exhibition, a conference, the presentation of a film, a space dedicated to the country's culture in the Cloister of the Convent and also a band performing every day on the main stages.

In anticipation of the opening of the doors of the Historic Zone, on June 26th, at 6:30 pm, in the Solar da Música Nova Auditorium, the Moroccan participation presents an opening concert, with the Orquestra Andalusí de Tetuan, whose guest is the Moroccan singer Lala Tamar, an “offer” from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Portugal.

The 20th anniversary of the MED will feature 90 hours of music, 54 concerts, 378 musicians from 31 different countries (it is the edition with the largest number of nationalities), 2 new countries, 12 stages, more than 100 exhibitors of different crafts, 2 exhibitions of art in a gallery, 12 groups of street artists and 1 guest country, the Kingdom of Morocco.

The MED Festival has a partnership between RTP and Antena1, Antena2 and Antena3. Gonçalo Madaíl, director of Music, Performing Arts and Image at public television, announced that, after Nos Alive and Primavera Sound, the MED Festival will be the third Portuguese festival that will receive a broadcast streaming of several “raw” concerts, through the RTP Palco digital platform, which will allow you to experience MED anywhere in the world. Some of this content may also be taken to RTP2. “We are very happy to be able to try it, for the third time, here because the MED has a public 'river', just like us, and suffers from the same challenges”, highlighted the person responsible for RTP.

Until June 24th, tickets are on sale with pre-sale prices: Daily Ticket 10 euros, Festival Ticket 30 euros and Daily Family Ticket 35 euros.

It is possible to follow all the information about the MED Festival on the official website, social networks and in the mobile application available on Android and IOS systems.

This presentation at Café Calcinha ended with a show-case by musician Raia, who will perform on June 29th, at the Hammam Stage. Raia is the synthesis project of Alentejo musician António Bexiga, who explores the sounds of the viola campaniça, in its acoustic and electric, analogue and digital, traditional and experimental, rehearsed and instantaneous borders, often in dialogue with other forms of art, visual or of performance.

For MED, Raia proposes a travel concert starting in the acoustic landscapes of the south and with mandatory circumnavigation. A two-movement concert, which features Raia's viola campaniça solo or in dialogue with the bass and double bass by Loulé musician and composer Marco Martins, a special guest for this show.

It should be noted that during the presentation, several people were present at Café Calcinha representing entities that contribute to the MED Festival. In addition to the president of the Municipal Council of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, there were also the consul of Morocco in the Algarve, José Alegria, the representative of the Al-Mouatamid Ibn Abbad Association, João Guerreiro, the representative of the RTA, Duarte Padinha, the regional delegate of the IPDJ , Custódio Moreno, those responsible for Cinema MED, Rui Tendinha, Poesias do Mundo, João Pedro Caliço, and MED Classic, Sérgio Leite, and also Fernando Perna, from the University of Algarve, among others.