The Nîmes Flamenco Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary
The region of Nîmes, in southern France, has been hosting one of the world’s most important flamenco festivals for three decades. In 2020, this festival celebrates its 30th anniversary with artists such as Vicente Amigo, Rafael Riqueni and Israel Galván, among others
The 30th edition of the del Nîmes Flamenco Festival will take place between January 9th and January 19th, 2020, with cante, baile and guitar on center stage. The program is defined by flamenco’s diversity and variety, mixing traditional performances with alternative activities such as exhibitions, educative activities and conferences.
The festival will be opened by the cante of Mariola Membrives and David Lagos. Regarding baile, on January 10th and 11th Estévez&Paños Cía will perform their premiere. The first guitar performance, featuring the gifted Tomás de Perrate, Raül Refree and Alfredo Lagos, will also take place on January 11th. The festival will be closed by Israel Galván, bailaor from Seville, who will perform on January 18th and 19th at the Théâtre de Nîmes.
The presentation of this event took place in the prestigious Corral de la Morería in Madrid. This act was attended by François Noël, director of the Nîmes Theater and the Festival, and Chema Blanco, the event’s artistic advisor. Together they revealed all the names which will take part in the festival: Membrives, David Lagos, Estévez / Paños y Compañía, Tomás de Perrate, Raül Refree, Alfredo Lagos, Eduardo Guerrero, Gema Caballero, Javier Patino, Patricia Guerrero, Antonia Jiménez, Amir ElSaffar, Joselito Acedo, Vicente Amigo, Rocío Molina, Rafael Riqueni, Mayte Martín and Israel Galván.
The 30th edition of this festival is not just about music. José Lamarca will exhibit his photographic work El Encuentro, featuring Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla. Saura will aslo be present with his cinematic trilogy Bodas de sangre, Carmen and El amor brujo. On her part, bailaora Chely La Torito will perform a show where the public will be the protagonist and Israel Galván will teach a master class.
In the presentation of the festival, bailaora Blanca del Rey spoke about the importance of the city of Nîmes regarding the flamenco universe, while the event’s director, François Noël, emphasized the three values that will rule the festival this year: respect, admiration and tolerance.
Many leading flamenco stars have performed at the Nîmes festival, such as Moraíto Chico, Tomatito, Rafael Riqueni, José de la Tomasa, Capullo de Jerez, Carmen Linares, Andrés Marín, Israel Galván, Joaquín and Luis El Zambo, Agujetas, Inés Bacán, Yerbabuena, María Pagés, Rocío Molina, Diego Carrasco, David Coria, Vicente Amigo, El Cabrero, Ángel Muñoz, Mari Peña, Luis Moneo, Antonio Reyes, David Carpio, Arcángel, Tomás de Perrate, the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and a long etcetera.
