A concert by Els amics de les Arts and The Tyets will close tonight the 61st edition of the Festival de la Porta Ferrada in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, an event that yesterday, before the Sopa de Cabra concert at the Guíxols Arena, already took stock of this year: the meeting continues to grow and is once again the festival with the most shows and spectators on the Costa Brava. In total, this year they have offered 73 shows and nearly 60,000 attendees.
This year, the oldest festival in Catalonia has had 13 exclusive concerts –such as those by Pink Martini, Ludovico Einaudi, Ben Harper, Pat Metheny, Jorge Drexler, Wilco or Kate Ryan– and 25 Catalan productions, which they describe as an “extraordinary balance ”, especially thanks to a Guíxols Arena that has become the open-air auditorium with the highest capacity: 3,700 seated spectators and 5,000 in its mixed version.
The good balance, they emphasize, began with its Salat Festival, dedicated to humor and comedy, and which featured Berto Romero or Martita de Graná, but above all with the last performance in Europe of Les Luthiers on their farewell tour. After the humor came the music –Pink Martini gave the starting signal– and in total they have posted the sold-out sign eight times: Ludovico Einaudi, Michel Camilo
The executive director of the Porta Ferrada Festival, Sergi Roselló, points out that the promoter "The Project took up the challenge of growing year after year, we began our management of the festival with 11,000 spectators and now, 10 editions later, we are close to 60,000. . We employ more than 200 workers and revitalize the territory by filling hotels and restaurants”. This year, he adds, they have also moved towards total sustainability with the use of reusable cups, the collection of waste on the beaches in the area, the reduction of plastic consumption and the use of green electricity.
The second deputy mayor and councilor of the festival, Josep Saballs, highlights the consolidation of the Guíxols Arena as unique equipment in the country for the celebration of open-air concerts. Albert Mallol, artistic director of the festival, concludes that the 61st edition of the festival has achieved a balance of genres and at the same time has continued to give clear support to Catalan musical performers and creators.
