New Venezuelan Festival Promotes National Music and Artists

Caracas, August 16 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – A Venezuelan festival aimed at promoting national artists and music recordings opened up to the public in Caracas on Wednesday.

Organised by the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture and the Institute of Scenic and Musical Arts, the Venezuelan Festival of the Disc 2012 is free to the public and features a line-up of musical acts played by almost twenty Venezuelan bands, ranging from Blues and Jazz to Ska and Reggae.

Whilst the acts will be performed throughout the day in the city’s Theresa Carreno theatre, the festival will also host forums, music stalls, music documentaries and workshops, including a children’s sing-song session.

The festival is an attempt by the government to promote and celebrate national culture, independent artists and Venezuela’s diverse musical history. It also forms part of a series of government initiatives to make culture accessible and freely available to all citizens.

“I feel happy and proud. This is the moment that all of us singers have been waiting for, everything to do with art and culture is finally being given the respect it deserves,” said singer Sol Musset, who was married to revolutionary Venezuelan folk singer, Ali Rodriguez.

“At this moment, Ali must be in all of these spaces and spiritually proud, because we have to caress our homeland and not manhandle it, as he said in one of his songs,” she added.

Whilst Wednesday’s activities featured an opening concert, one of Thursday’s main attractions was a talk on contemporary music in Venezuela.

“Venezuela’s diversity is a result of its geography, a result of the countries which surround our territory… Here an academic in music can play in a jazz band… and that’s paradoxical because in those countries which are known for being developed, these kinds of experiences don’t happen, there you are either a salsa dancer or an academic” said music teacher Ruben Garcia, who attended the talk.

Both the general public and artists have praised the initiative, which is the first of its kind in Venezuela. Speaking to Venezuelan news station AVN, musician Alejandro Delgado commented that he thought the event was a positive step for recognising artists’ work.

“I am happy because a space for independent producers is being created and also spaces to reflect on our profession. Hopefully this initiative will be organised in all the [regional] states,” he said.

The festival will last for 5 days and is due to end Sunday night.