Yet again, the Aqui Acolá Festival has Ponta do Sol emerge as THE cultural hub.
The last few years have made it hard to think of Ponta do Sol and not think of culture. There’s something for everyone, no matter what their tastes in culture are, from music concerts to film screenings, theatre plays and even exhibitions. Though small, this town’s popularity now knows no boundaries due to the way it promotes a cultured and bohemian life style in Madeira.
Vouching for it is the Aqui Acolá (Here and There) festival. The event’s 2nd edition, to be held between Thursday the 5th and Sunday the 8th of May is bound to liven the streets and catch the eyes of anyone who happens to be in the town’s historic area.
Dance, theatre, sculpture, literature, cinema, photography and music will be scattered around nine different stages forming the event’s core focus. In fact, the festival’s slogan is ‘4 days, 9 stages, 7 arts’.
It is set to open at 6 p.m. Thursday, the 5th of May, after the religious service to be held at the main Church at 4 p.m. celebrating the Ascension of Jesus.
On the first day, the spotlight will be focused on guitar player Gwyn Ashton. This Welshman who made his career in Australia will be taking the stage at Largo do Pelourinho around 10:50 p.m. and will be treating visitors to notes of blues and rock. Before that, there will be street entertainment, a theatre play and a performance by the Madeiran band Emperium.
Friday will see cinema and music join hands with literature in two separate events. Play lovers will be overjoyed to see the performance by the Palmilha Dentada group at 9:20 p.m. in the John Dos Passos auditorium. After that, it is time for some music! First with a jazz trio, then with TV show winner Rui Drummond and then with a DJ whose job will be to maintain the streets alive between 1 and 3 a.m., something he will have to do once more in the following day.
On the 7th of May, Cine Sol will have Rota do Contrabando and Naturalistas de Vulto before hosting the Here and There Talk about literature and staging a dance show by the Prestige Dance group.
But great moments are yet to come with comedians Pedro Neves and João Seabra who will perform one more time on Sunday.
Atop the City Hall, at 9:40 p.m., there will be a fado concert. This fado, however, will come with a special twist as it will be sung by Viviane. Her accent coming from her Portuguese-French ancestry adds a touch of the peculiar, if not the unique, to her approach to that which is the most recognizable Portuguese musical style.
Immediately after, at 11 p.m., the most anticipated personality in this year’s edition will rise to the stage at Largo do Pelourinho. We are speaking, of course, of Miguel Araújo, a talented musician and composer, member of the ‘Os Azeitonas’ group who in 2012 started his own solo project and reached national stardom with the single ‘Os Maridos das Outras’.
The last day’s musical entertainment will be taken care of by the Students Musical Group of the University of Madeira, the Camachofones group, Casa Ponta do Sol and the Xarabanda group. As for theatre and cinema, we will have the Palmilha Dentada group at 5 p.m., in the John Dos Passos auditorium, and Fundos Oceânicos, at Cine Sol, respectively.
Adding to this extensive program is a variety of exhibitions and workshops. Literature, films, chocolaty art, sculpture, painting, dance, music, photography and theatre are just some of the topics to be explored in the workshops that are scheduled for the mornings of Saturday and Sunday, in the festival’s many venues.
Four days oozing culture. While no one may be able to pinpoint exactly why, it is undeniable that Ponta do Sol is, more and more, a true cultural hub.
