The Pyrenees will resonate in the Tradicionàrius

BarcelonaCape Creus and the Bay of Biscay mark the limits of the Pyrenees, a geographical and cultural space that will be the central focus of the 39th edition of Tradicionàrius, the folk festival centered in Barcelona's Gràcia district. The artistic direction, shared by Anaís Falcó, Manu Sabater, and Andrea Moliner since last year, brings the mountains to the city—mountains that dance to different rhythms and in different languages across the Basque Country, Occitania, Aragon, and Catalonia. Until March 27th, they have programmed around fifty activities, a fine lineup with a Pyrenean theme, including this Friday's opening with a parade and concert at the Tradicionàrius Artisan Center (CAT), a celebration marking the 25th anniversary of the Folk Performers' Camps.

Within the Pyrenean Axis, highlights include performances such as that of the Basque musicians Joseba Tapia and Xabier Leturia (February 20), masters of folk music connected to the trikitixa (Basque accordion) and tambourines, who will come to Tradicionàrius with a festive spirit and a band of about ten musicians. From Bayonne comes Romain Baudoin, a member of the Artús collective and a tireless researcher of the hurdy-gurdy in the Landes region; at the CAT (Centro de Arte Tradicionàrius), he will conduct the Esmuc Grand Folk Ensemble (January 24). Musicians Alexis Toussaint and Romain Colautti, also linked to Artús, will perform in Gràcia with the Trucs project, a proposal centered on the sounds of transhumance (March 21).

The Occitan group Cocanha will also stop at the festival on March 6 to showcase their wonderful repertoire of Flame folklore, a material filled with extravagant folklore and polyphonic magic that premiered at the Mediterranean Fair in ManresaIn a program marked by the Pyrenees, it was essential to include... Artur Blasco, who on March 13 will perform with another leading figure in diatonic accordion, Cati Plana: both will present the project 2 storiesSurely the most emotional concert of this series will be Swallowman at Cape Creus, bell ringer at Taülla tribute to Jordi Fàbregas (1951-2021)Fàbregas, a collaborator of Artur Blasco in El Pont d'Arcalís, a member of the group Coses, founder of the Tradicionàrius Artisan Center, and director of the festival until 2020. On January 23, five years after Fàbregas's death, the tribute will bring together musicians Andreu Peral, Josep Cordobés, and Carla Sabaté.

Outside the Pyrenees, the 39th Tradicionàrius maintains its programmed cycle with the Barnasants festival, the so-called Trad d'Autor, which this year includes concerts by L'Arannà – the duo that dazzled the Mediterranean Fair of Manresa with the premiere of Turmarine, which they also showed to Cantuto Festival of Cassà de la Selva—, by the Occitan Guillaume Lopez Trio and the Italian Carmen Consoli with the Orchestra of Root Music of Catalonia (OMAC). The Trad de Autor program will also include The Ballad of Solé SugranyesJaume Ayats's pocket opera about the MIL militant killed by the Civil Guard in 1976.

The Tradicionàrius program is rounded out, among other offerings, with participatory dances during the folk and dance nights, musical strolls through the markets, and activities surrounding the Sant Antoni bonfires in Gràcia.