The Black Music Festival, a pioneer in claiming winter as a concert season, was founded in 2002 as the Salt Blues Festival. Since adopting its current name in 2003, it has hosted legends such as Johnny Winter, Chuck Berry, Gloria Gaynor, and former Rolling Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. The current edition, directed by Pau Marquès, features Ben Harper as the headliner, with performances in Girona, Lleida, and Palma, and highlights the queer trio The Harlem Gospel Travelers.
“"The festival has remained faithful to a concept: it has a point of discovery and prescription, and you can find things of very high quality that do not always transcend because we are in a world of constant noise."
The spring cycle is consolidated with the Enderrock Awards, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their presence in Girona with two galas at the Auditori on March 25 and 26. The very next day, March 27, singer Sílvia Pérez Cruz will open the 14th edition of the Strenes Festival, which runs until May 3. The director of Strenes, Xavi Pascual, confirmed that tickets for several concerts, including those by Joan Dausà, Lax’n’Busto, Els Amics de les Arts, and Buhos, are already sold out.
This high season includes other key events. The International Circus Festival Elefant d’Or will gather 76 artists from 16 countries in Girona from February 26 to March 2. The Easter edition of the Peralada Festival (from April 2 to 5) will host maestro William Christie and revive the unpublished oratorio Cristo condannato by Antonio Caldara. Furthermore, the Recòndit Festival (Pla de l'Estany) and Ítaca (Empordà), featuring concerts by Morad and Love of Lesbian, reinforce cultural decentralization.
