Funchal Jazz Festival is off to an ambitious 2016 edition.
Essential Madeira Islands had already published the line-up for this year’s edition of the Funchal Jazz Festival but we took the chance to go and listen to the festival’s organizers at this week’s press conference.
‘If you think that last year the audience of Funchal was treated to the best Jazz out there, you’ll find the 2016 line-up to be unbeatable.’ These words by Leonel Santos were also used by Paulo Barbosa, the festival’s artistic director, to open his talk on this year’s edition of the biggest Jazz event in Madeira.
This year’s edition has distinctive line-up, bound to draw in as many Madeirans as it will tourists who travel to the island just for the sake of attending the festival, as pointed out by Paulo Prada, a delegate of the Pestana group.
For Paulo Cafôfo, the mayor of the Town Hall of Funchal, while the Funchal Jazz Festival bears the city’s name, it already is more of ‘an international festival’ and this year, it will have the ‘the best of what’s out there in the world’.
Pairing with the main event, the concerts at Parque de Santa Catarina, is a panoply of activities to be held in parallel with the festival, between the 9th and 17th of July.
The presentation of the festival is to happen on the eve of July 9th, at 10 p.m., at SCAT, with performances by Wilson Correia Trio and the Madeira Jazz Collective. The same spot is to host, throughout the days of the event, the Jam Sessions, together with the Ricardo Toscano Quartet.
Between the 11th and 15th of July, Avenida Arriaga is also to serve as host to a variety of performances by groups of the Conservatory of Madeira (CEPAM – Conservatório Escola Profissional das Artes da Madeira). Meanwhile, the atrium of the Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre will be holding the 2015 Funchal Jazz Festival Memorabilia exhibition. In display until July 17th will be drawings by Fagundes Vasconcelos and photos by Renato Nunes.
On Saturday July 16th, there will be instrument masterclasses and workshops, with the participation of the Lisbon Jazz Sextet and Maria João, one of the central figures of the national jazz landscape.
The Funchal Jazz Festival happens on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of July at Parque de Santa Catarina, with two concerts a day. Tickets sell for 15 euros per day while the three day pass costs 30 euros.
As with last year’s edition, there will be buses travelling between the Assicum Roundabout and the event’s venue, stopping at the various hotels in the area. The one day return ticket costs 5 euros.
Learn how you can go to the Funchal Jazz Festival with Essential Madeira Islands here.
