25 NAMES AND GUEST COUNTRY ANNOUNCED

MED announces the first names in an edition with Cape Verde as guest country

The MED Festival is back in Loulé's historic quarter from 26th to 29th June, with tons of good music, a multidisciplinary and multicultural programme and an atmosphere where you can breathe in the world's diverse experiences.

The event was once more present at BTL - Better Tourism Lisbon Travel Market Better Tourism Lisbon Travel Market for a presentation to the public, partners and potential tourist markets. The first names to be included in the line-up have now been announced, as well as the country that will be in the spotlight this year.

After Morocco started a new chapter of the festival in 2024 - the ‘Guest Country’ - Cape Verde will be in the spotlight in this 21st Edition of MED.

Thus, in order to highlight the most genuine aspects that this country has to offer, a Patio will be recreated, a symbol of the culture of Cape Verde and part of the islands' traditional architecture. A meeting place for family and neighbours, this is where parties, meetings and day-to-day activities take place, one of the main features of being an outdoor kitchen. It is this community spirit that MED intends to bring to the Cloister of the Espírito Santo Convent, where gastronomy and handicrafts will mix with the warm sounds of Cape Verde.

The music of this country will therefore be in the spotlight at MED, starting with the presence of Carmen Souza, who will perform a show-case at the Cineteatro Louletano on the 10th of May, during the final presentation of the MED Festival. The Luso-Caboverdian singer, baptised by the international press as the ‘Ella Fitzgerald of Cape Verde’ or the ‘new Cesária Évora’, combines a virtuoso jazz vocal technique with a series of Lusophone influences, ranging from fado to samba, from morna to bossa nova, including bittersweet ballads and Cape Verdean blues. Today she is a strong world music personality and one of the most successful jazz singers.

Ceuzany is the artist who will perform the inaugural concert, even before the festival officially opens its doors, on the evening of 25th of June, on the Castelo Stage. Born in Senegal to Cape Verdean parents, she moved to Mindelo at the age of two. She was the lead singer of Cordas do Sol, a group she left in 2013 to start her solo career. Her success has earned her numerous nominations at the Cabo Verde Music Awards and she won the prizes for best traditional song and best female performer in 2017.

Os Ferro Gaita is back at MED. Ambassadors of funaná, they are one of Cape Verde's greatest musical institutions. They carry their land in their souls and the rhythm in their hearts and, once more, they are bringing all the festivity and musical richness of Africa to Loulé's Historic Centre.

In a special concert, the musician Dino D´Santiago joins the iconic Os Tubarões, which are without a shadow of a doubt one of Cape Verde's greatest musical emblems and one of the most representative groups in the country's music during the transition to independence and democracy. Authentic legends, they have spread some of the most important pieces in the songbook of a country that continues to inspire the world with its mornas, coladeiras and funaná. Dino, a son of the Municipality of Loulé, needs no introduction for what he is today, not only in musical terms, but also as an activist for social causes, being involved in various projects linked to social equity and equality. This challenge launched by the MED organisation to the musician from Quarteira is already generating interest for further concerts.

On top of the above program, there will also be a book presentation, a conference and two art exhibitions with Cape Verdean artists. In April, MED will be at the Cape Verde Cultural Centre in Lisbon to present this entire programme.

The Mayor of Loulé highlighted the presence of this country with which Loulé has a very close relationship, as a result of the twinning arrangement with the Municipality of Boavista signed in 2000, and the strong resident community in the municipality. ‘Cape Verde has accustomed us to showing the world its vigorous culture, its musical creativity, and I'm sure this edition will turn out very well! I'd go as far as to say that it's going to be the most popular and interesting edition ever,’ said Vítor Aleixo.

 

First 25 confirmed names

In 2025, MED will feature 90 hours of music, 54 concerts, 338 musicians, 27 nationalities, 2 of them new (Puerto Rico and Wales), 12 stages, 100 craft exhibitors, 2 art exhibitions, 12 groups of street artists and 1 guest country, Cape Verde.

In addition to the artists of Cape Verde, there are other shows that are expected to bring about a lot of interest from the public. In another special concert, Spain and Portugal will be joined on stage by the voices of Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Salvador Sobral. Silvia will be in Loulé for the third time to share the stage with Sobral nuestros hermanos , Portugal's first Eurovision winner, in 2017, with ‘Amar pelos Dois’, a singer and songwriter who, with his very own style, already has a career full of awards.

Fado could not be missing from MED's musical line-up and this year it will have a ‘heavyweight’: Carminho! An incomparable artist, known for her remarkable voice, talent, composition and unwavering artistic dedication, she has taken fado to the four corners of the world and one example of this was her participation in the film ‘Poor Things’, with the song ‘O Quarto’, which won the Oscar for Best Original Soundtrack in 2024.

This edition also features two commissions with national artists: O Gajo & As Sanfonas da Ponte Velhawhich brings together Portuguese musician João Morais, who has given a new guise to the ‘viola campaniça’, and a group of accordions from Santo Tirso who bring us traditional music from Portugal and Galicia; and música tradicional de Portugal e da Galiza; e Stereossauro invites Ana Lua Caiano and Pedro Jóiaa meeting between the Portuguese DJ, the sweetness of one of the female voices of the new generation of Portuguese music and the virtuoso guitarist.

The son of the mythical Ali Farka Touré, Vieux Farka Touré quickly won his place in the artistic world and is today considered by critics to be one of the great figures of Malian music. Vieux Farka Touré, virtuoso guitarist, composer and lyricist, known as the ‘Hendrix of the Sahara’ takes to the MED stage for this 21st edition.

One of the festival's female voices hails from Trinidad and Tobago. Jeneile Osborne, better known as Queen Omega, began her musical career singing in calypso and soca bands, but it was in the reggae world that she made her name. She gained popularity in 2023 after her song ‘No Love Dubplate’ with Swiss DJ/music producer Little Lion Sound had more than 38 million views on YouTube.

Of special consideration, in 2025, two countries will be represented at the MED Festival for the first time: Puerto Rico, with singer-songwriter iLe, and Wales, with Cerys Hafana, an harpist who transforms her country’s traditional music into something innovative.

During the presentation at BTL, one of the names confirmed for this edition was the Portuguese singer-songwriter Milhanas. ‘I've been pestering my agency to take part in this festival for a long time. It's a really special festival, which focuses on diversity, so I'm going to give you the most special concert possible. I'm very grateful and honoured to be part of this year's line-up,’ said the artist who expresses ‘a lot of love for Portugal, without denying her Anglo-Saxon influences’.

The first names already confirmed for the MED'25 Festival are: Ferro Gaita, Dino D´Santiago & Os Tubarões (Cape Verde), Ceuzany (Cape Verde/Senegal), Carminho, a garota não, Valter Lobo, Stereossauro invites Ana Lua Caiano and Pedro Jóia, O Gajo & As Sanfonas da Ponte Velha and Milhanas (Portugal), Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Salvador Sobral (Spain/Portugal), Systema Solar (Colombia), Vieux Farka Touré (Mali), Barrut (France), Balqeis (Egypt) Fulu Miziki (Democratic Republic of Congo), Ile (Puerto Rico), Sofiane Saidi (Algeria), Justin Adams & Mauro Durante (United Kingdom/Italy), Cerys Hafana (Wales), Shkoon (Syria/Germany), Alain Pérez y la Orquesta (Cuba), Paulo Flores (Angola), Tarwa-N-Tiniri (Morocco) and Queen Omega (Trinidad and Tobago).

IN ITS 20 EDITIONS, MORE THAN 380,000 VISITORS AND 710 BANDS REPRESENTING 77 COUNTRIES HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE MED

Festival MED continues to enjoy the support of RTP, through public television and radio. At the event, the directors, Gonçalo Madaíl and Nuno Galopim, reaffirmed their partnership, stating that in 2025, the two teams will be in Loulé, utilizing additional resources and advanced technologies to promote the MED worldwide.The involvement of RTP Africa and RDP Africa is also assured.

Tickets are already on pre-sale until 22nd June, with reduced prices: Daily Ticket 10 euros, Festival Ticket 30 euros and Daily Family Ticket 35 euros

O vereador dos Eventos, Carlos Carmo, referiu ainda alguns dados sobre um estudo realizado pela Universidade do Algarve sobre o impacto socioeconómico do Festival MED. “O impacto do MED na nossa comunidade multiplica-se por 3,5 vezes aquilo que é o investimento. São 4,5 milhões de euros de retorno para a nossa economia, que nos dá a certeza que estamos no caminho certo!”, adiantou.