Colombia’s Antioquian capital, Medellin, will present the “Fiesta de la Musica 2011” on Saturday, June 18, in which 124 bands will play in 14 different locations across the city, according to the event press release.
Bands for all musical tastes, and across numerous genres, including hip hop, electronica, reggae, ska, salsa, reggaeton and vallenato, will play at the citywide festival. It begins at 2PM on Saturday and finishes at 3AM with a closing concert in the city’s Parque Poblado by French DJ Hanna Hais.
The city proper will present 64 bands, while the outlying municipalities of Bello, Sabaneta, Barbosa and Itagui will also participate in the festival from their culture centers, with concerts from another 60 bands.
Salsa music will be one highlight of the festival, with a concert tribute to Jairo Grisales and his orchestra Nuevo Miramar, who are famous for spreading the “Afrocaribbean” rhythm to Medellin. The concert is also representative of the international theme of the year, which has been established as the year of African descendants by the United Nations.
An inaugural concert will take place on the evening of Friday, June 17, in the city center’s Antioquia Museum, from 7PM to 10PM, with a mix of electronica, jazz, funk, house, minimal and techno from French DJ M.MAT, who will be arriving from Bombay, India, to kick off the festival.
With the event, Medellin joins over 450 cities around the world that have held similar festivals on June 21, the summer solstice, for over 30 years. The idea was originally born in France, where the day was already considered a cause for celebration. In Colombia, the festival will occur a few days earlier than the usual date, so as to fall on a weekend.
In order to see the full schedule for the festival, including times and locations, visit the official event site.