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IF YOU'RE in the Comunidad Valenciana any time between now and the early hours of March 20, you may notice an awful lot of noise and colour on the streets. It's the season for the region's biggest festival,...
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Most of the 75 events across 21 neighbourhoods in the capital between next Friday (June 29) and September 2 will be free of charge and are set to include everything from music and dance through to circus acts, theatre, poetry readings, food-tasting and sports-day style races and games.
The Veranos de la Villa ('Summers in Town') festival season kicks off on day one in the Plaza de Colón with British artist Matthew Herbert who, in an ironic move in response to the UK's referendum on leaving the European Union, called his new group The Brexit Big Band.
Other events in this somewhat eclectic festival include a synchronised swimming demonstration on August 22 and 23, directed by Pablo Esbert at the Palomeras Bajas pool in the district of Vallecas, plus a 'legal rave' in the Matadero warehouse – which, as the name hints, actually used to be an abbattoir – over July 6 and 7.
Bangladeshi dancer and choreographer Akram Khan will be at the Price Circus on July 21 with his show Under the Lions, and a literary night with multi-lingual poetry readings will be held on the Segovia bridge on July 18, followed by another which includes a rendition of an epic verse by France's Yoann Bourgeois at the Debod Temple over July 21 and 22.
Around 30 live music concerts are on the cards over the next two-and-a-half months, including Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds on July 12 in the Lineal de Manzanares Park, prize-winning up-and-coming new pop-rock duo María Arnal and Marcel Bagés on July 18 in the same venue, and French pianist Christophe Chassol at the Matadero warehouse on July 24, a site that will also host the USA's Terry Riley on August 8.
Jazz and flamenco offer an alternative to pop and rock – Martirio, Raúl Rodríguez, Pedro El Granaíno and Maui will perform a tribute to artist Miguel Vargas, titled Bambino, on July 1.
Discos, karaokes, circus acts and cooking demonstrations are on the programme, as well as a 'space day' next Sunday, day two of the festival – to mark International Asteroid Day, Spain's recently-appointed science minister and first Spaniard to land on the moon, Pedro Duque, will give a talk on what it is like in space.
Duque inspired kids all over the country in 1998 and again in 2003 to tell their careers advisors at school that they wanted to be 'spacemen like Pedro', and footage of the country's inter-orbital hero floating around in zero gravity were emblazoned all over national TV screens.
His chat about his extra-terrestrial experiences will be followed by an open-air prediction of Kubrick's cult film, 2001: Space Odyssey.
Continuing with the 'out-of-this-world' theme, members of the public can watch the lunar eclipse on July 27 reflected in the pond in the Pradolongo Park, to background music by local artist Pional.
Rounding off the festival season and in tribute to the first-ever mayor of Madrid following the Transition to democracy, Enrique Tierno Galván, fireworks will be let off in the park in Arganzuela which bears his name.
Only a handful of the events carry an entry fee, and this will be no more than €15 in any case – and those who hold the JOBO young persons' card, which gives free entry to theatres for the under-26s, will not have to pay at all.
The picture above, released by Madrid city council, shows the official poster for Veranos de la Villa, created by Italian studio Micol Talso with the help of artist Maurizio Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari.
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