Carlos Seixas, who drew up the festival’s programme, also stressed that organisers had made “an effort to give the best of music” and to ensure that “the world’s big artists” are represented.
The increase in the number of shows this year is evident above all on the first few days, at the tourist resort at Porto Covo. From Monday, the event continued in the town of Sines itself, until 29 July.
The aim was not to “bring more people”, Seixas explained, but to “give a bigger offer to the people that visit us”, with “a richer festival”.
It would, he stressed, be “almost impossible to grow more”, given the nature of the places involved and the limited amount of temporary accommodation available.
Many of the musicians who performed at this year’s festival have been before, such as Mohammad Reza Mortazavi from Iran, Waldemar Bastos from Angola, Fatoumata Diawara from Mali, Mercedes Péon from Spain, and also Bixiga 70 from Brazil, who will be performing together with Orlando Julius of Nigeria.
But there was also space in the programme for newcomers, such as Leyla McCalla from the US, the Basel Rajoub Trio from Syria/Italy/Austria, Mike Love from Hawaii, Bulldozer from Colombia, Mateo Kingman from Ecuador, and Tulegur from Inner Mongolia.
The event aims to “promote equality of circulation of artists and of all geographies,” he added. “We also have to give an opportunity to those who have no chance of performing at other types of events. We have that component of promoting equality independent of the origin and ethnicity of each of the artists.”
As is customary, the festival opened with Portuguese performers, with a show that brought together on stage the “master of the Portuguese guitar” António Chainho, and the fado singer, André Baptista - both of whom are from the Alentejo region. TPN/Lusa