Canada is the guest country of the 28th edition of La Mar de Músicas, which will take place from July 14 to 22. A country which has in common the Cartagena festival of being a reference in terms of multiculturalism, according to municipal sources in a press release.

Indeed, in addition to the Canada Special, the festival will welcome artists from 17 countries, including Fito Paez, Rozalén, Rodrigo Cuevas, Fatoumata Diawara, Andrés Calamaro, Rubén Blades, Arde Bogotá, Silvana Estrada and Silvia Pérez Cruz, who will be accompanied by Maria Gadu and Liliana Herrero.

Lola Flores will also be honored on the centenary of her birth with a special and unique concert by Califate 3/4 and Víctor Jara, for the fiftieth anniversary of her murder, with Valeria Castro, Luis Pastor, Muerdo or Isaac and Nora.

The festival was presented this Thursday, April 20 in Cartagena, by the mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, the director of the festival, José Luis Cegarra, and was attended by the councilor for culture, David Martínez Noguera, the director of the Institute of Culture Industries, Manuel Cebrián, sponsors and friends of the festival. After the presentation, the band Carey played, which is part of this year’s lineup.

“Year after year, La Mar de Músicas is one of the most important events in our country. It is considered one of the three most important global music festivals in Europe and, according to the Observatory of Culture of the Contemporary Foundation, we are the outstanding cultural center of this Region, and the only event in the entire Region of Murcia to rank among the top hundred in our country with institutions such as the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía or the San Sebastián Film Festival”, according to the mayor.

“They come to La Mar de Músicas to see concerts that are unthinkable at other festivals,” Arroyo pointed out. “This is our greatness, and we will continue to do so. We do not lose sight of the fact that we are a public festival, therefore, we are here to discover and show what other events cannot afford”, he said. -he adds.

The Mayor also pointed out that, “as we perform in this city, as always, women have a fundamental role in La Mar de Músicas. Of the 38 groups, 22 of them have women as group leaders or members of the group “.

PROGRAMMING

Rozalén will be in charge of the opening concert of the festival. She arrives in Cartagena to present ‘Matriz’, where the artist, closely linked to La Mar de Músicas, pays homage to the roots, tradition and culture of Spain. A special concert in which she will be accompanied by Rodrigo Cuevas, Fetén Fetén, Eliseo Parra, the Ronda de Motilleja and the Ronda de Boltaña.

La Mar de Músicas’ own production will also be special to commemorate the figure of Víctor Jara, on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. The concert “I don’t sing just to sing. 50 years without Victor Jara ‘will be one of the main events outside Chile to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the murder of Jara, and in which Valeria Castro, Isaac and Nora, Muerdo, Club del Río, Luis Pastor, Emilia and Pablo and Luis Barria.

In this sense, it is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lola Flores and La Faraona had to have its place in a festival like La Mar de Músicas, whose banner is popular music, roots, interbreeding, the mixture of cultures .

The tribute that Cartagena will pay on the occasion of the centenary of his birth to one of the greatest legends of 20th century Spanish music and culture will be accompanied by a special concert by Caliphate 3/4: the only concert that the Andalusian combo will give in 2024 and that it will also serve to introduce new members of the formation. Tribute, adoration and homage are paid to the Pharaoh, in the funniest way possible, and Califate 3/4 will in turn present its new “dream team” in society.

Canada will have a special place in the programming, since the 28th edition will be devoted to the North American country. The festival will take a musical tour that will range from the multiculturalism the country boasts of, with artists such as Mélissa Laveux, Pierre Kwenders and Afrotronix, who although the Canadians hail from Haiti, Congo and Chad, respectively; it will pass through the traditional music of Quebec, represented by Le Diablé à Cinq, and will stop at the most indigenous sounds of Aysanabee and the most contemporary of Lisa Leblanc, Owen Pallet and Marta Wainwright.

La Mar de Músicas is a melting pot of cultures, an icon of multiculturalism across Europe, which this year, in addition to groups from Canada, will welcome artists from Brazil, Haiti, Japan, Portugal, Mali, from Congo, France, Argentina, Morocco, Panama, Nigeria, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Chad.

Latin American music, so fashionable at the moment, has always had a great diffusion space at La Mar de Músicas since the beginning of the festival in 1995. This year was not going to be less and the great figures of the world will pass by the port city, Argentinian rock Fito Paez and Andrés Calamaro, Panamanian Rubén Blades, who will receive the festival prize, Mexican Silvana Estrada and Peruvian Susana Baca. From Brazil will come the sounds of the very young Bala Desejo and the historic Lia de Itamaracá.

The pairing of Latin America and Spain will be perfectly represented in the magnificent concert given by Liliana Herrero from Argentina, Maria Gadú from Brazil and Silvia Pérez Cruz from Catalonia with their “Territories” project.

The Spaniards Rodrigo Cuevas, Queralt Lahoz, Lía Kali, Carlangas and Karmento will also present their new works.

Africa also has its own place in all the programming of La Mar de Músicas and this year 2023 will feature the Malian Fatoumata Diawara, who presents the album that Damon Albarn produced for her. From Morocco will come Bab L’Bluz and from Nigeria Ruth Mahogany & Arb Music Band.

The Portuguese MARO, the Japanese creators of cumbia Minyo Crusaders and the new voice of French jazz Gabi Hartmann will also be in Cartagena. Also French, although with roots in the region of Murcia, November Ultra, who, in addition to acting, will receive the Paco Martín award at the festival, for the revelation artist of world music.

The festival always has a prominent space for groups from Cartagena and other areas of the Region of Murcia. Arde Bogotá de Cartagena will be the protagonists of Repsol Day, in which all concerts are free. Crudo Pimento, Hoonine, Carey, Ruto Neón and Fernando Rubio will also perform in ‘La Mar’.

In this edition, two of the scenarios change locations. The ‘Somos de Aquí’ stage will be located in the CIM square and the main stage for Repsol Day in the recently renovated esplanade of the port of Cartagena.

La Mar de Músicas, in addition to music, is art, cinema and literature, and its parallel activities will be presented in the coming months.

TICKETS

Tickets and subscriptions, 300 for the concerts at the Auditorium Paco Martín and 100 for those at the Patio del Antiguo CIM, are purchased through the lamardemusicas.com website and entradasatualcance.com

The festival organized by the Cartagena City Hall is sponsored by Repsol, Estrella de Levante, La Verdad newspaper and the Ministry of Culture. The Embassy of Canada in Spain, Global Toronto, Institute of Cultural Industries of the Region of Murcia, Talleres M. Gallego, Radio 3, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Ikea, Gladys Palmera, Soltec, Casa África, Lhicarsa, also collaborate. Hydrogea and Alsa.

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