Musical weekend with Minipop, Festivalot, and more

With June comes the sun and, in Catalonia, festivals throughout the country to appreciate the good weather. The first weekend of the month saw musical performances – many outdoors – from the southern town of Tarragona, Minipop, to the northern municipality of Girona, Festivalot. Closer to the Catalan capital, then, another event was held in support of incarcerated officials.

Minipop

Down south, Minipop broke its own records by selling, for the first time, all its pre-sale tickets before the festival even began. Over the span of three days, indeed, the eighth edition of the event saw more than 9,000 attendees come to hear established names in the Catalan musical scene like Mishima, La laia and Ferran Palau. The festival also made room for up-and-coming talent like Intana, Mareta Bufona, and TMN.

Festivalot

Meanwhile, up north, the fourth edition of Festivalot was having a successful run as well, filling the Parc de la Devesa with music and families. It too broke record attendance with 15,000 concert-goers, some 30% of which came from outside the Girona County to enjoy the music, despite Saturday’s rainy weather. Catalan pop group Mishima also made an appearance on Festivalot’s lineup, as well as Els Catarres, Manu Guix, Blaumut, Cesk Freixas and Marinah (from band Ojos de Brujo).

#freeromeva

An unusual performance was also held this weekend, just to the west of Barcelona in Sant Cugat del Vallès: one in solidarity with Raül Romeva, incarcerated and deposed Foreign Affairs minister. Organized by a platform under the name of #freeromeva, the concert demanded the release of imprisoned officials and the return of those in exile. In total, nine Catalan leaders are in pre-trial jail, some including since mid-October of last year; meanwhile, seven officials are in exile in Belgium, Switzerland, Scotland and Germany.