The Formentera Department of Culture announces that at 8.30pm on Sunday 21 June, islanders will be treated to a concert from Ziggy Walrus in the patio of the Far de la Mola. The offshoot of the Balearic symphony orchestra will perform covers drawing from a repertoire that spans The Beatles, David Bowie and John Lennon.
Culture consellera Susana Labrador remarked that after the recent reopening of cultural landmarks like the library, the municipal gallery and the La Mola lighthouse, Sunday’s show is the first cultural programming the Consell has put on since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. “It’s a moment we’re very excited about”, Labrador admitted, “not least because it’s the first concert we’ve ever done in the Far de la Mola patio”.
Admission to the show will be free and space limited. Tickets can be reserved from today until Thursday 18 June by emailing cultura@conselldeformentera.cat.
Sant Jaume
The consellera noted that though the public health crisis and accompanying safety protocol meant scrapping initial plans for this year’s Sant Jaume celebrations in favour of a focus on 2021, a revised proposal now envisions festivities going ahead under an alternate format.
In an effort to promote hometown musicians and artists and deliver an injection of culture to every town on the island, organisers have come up with a new format of local artists, intimate performances and simultaneous programming in multiple locations in a bid to include every town on the island while sidestepping crowds in any one site.
Kicking off Tuesday 14 July, the programme serves up music and on-stage performances, art displays and children’s entertainment before coming to a close twelve days later on the island’s yearly holiday: the Diada de Formentera.
The Formentera Department of Culture has offered support to neighbourhood groups and festival committees who wish to adapt patron saint celebrations to new public health protocol.
Music in the squares
This year Música a les Places returns for another summer of weekly performances. Musical entertainment is planned at Es Pujols’ Plaça d’Europa (Thursdays from the 25th), Sant Ferran’s Plaça de l’Església (Fridays from the 26th) and La Savina’s Passeig Marítim (Els dilluns al Port, Mondays from the 29th), as are jazz concerts in Sant Francesc’s Plaça de la Constitució (Jazz a la Plaça, Saturdays from the 27th). Shows start at 10.00pm and are scheduled until October.
Open-air cinema
This year marks the fourteenth edition of Cinema a la Fresca, an outdoor film initiative that spotlights classic and contemporary selections from Spanish and world cinema. From July to September and starting Tuesday 30 June, island crowds can catch a total of 32 subtitled independent films produced in an array of countries from the 1930s to today. Shows start at 10.00pm—Tuesdays in Sant Francesc’s Jardí de ses Eres, Thursdays in Sant Ferran’s Plaça de l’Església and Friday’s in the patio of La Mola’s Casa del Poble.
Culture capsules
Another bit of Consell de Formentera-backed cultural programming that starts this June is “Càpsules culturals”. The initiative is presented by Moskitas Muertas, a cultural association that strives to inject art into the daily lives of island residents by making it accessible, straightforward and tangible.
The months ahead will find the collective unveiling capsules at four milestones of local history, with displays from a variety of disciplinary angles forswearing filters as they showcase culture and bring local history into focus, all while reinterpreting their spirit.
Scheduled for 23 June at the Far de la Mola, the first càpsula is a western with performances at 8.00pm, 8.30pm and 9.00pm. Admission is free and space is limited. Spaces can be reserved by sending an email to capsulesculturals@gmail.com.
Concerts
Summer 2020 will also offer islanders the chance to enjoy LLUN3S, a three-part series of full-moon music festivals in the Far de la Mola patio that organisers hope becomes a yearly feature of the local calendar.
The three concerts will begin just as the moon peeks out over the horizon at the cliffs of La Mola. The first concert is on Sunday 5 July at 9.58pm, the second on 3 August at 9.21pm and the third on 2 September at 8.57pm.
Presented by Espai_F and sponsored by the Department of Culture, LLUN3S aims to recover the spirit of La Mola’s famed “full-moon parties” of the seventies and eighties.
Formentera Jazz Festival
Last on the list, the sixth edition of Formentera’s festival of jazz, originally meant to settle into new Sant Ferran digs this June, will instead take place in August. Unfolding from the 21st to the 23rd in a format which has been tweaked for added intimacy, the festival will merge the energy, artistry and melodies of musicians who are both new at the game and veterans in the field and hailing from Formentera, Spain and the world.
At these and more activities hosted this summer by the Consell de Formentera and revamped for increased intimacy and fewer crowds, capacity limits will be observed and masks required whenever physical distancing measures aren’t possible.
16 June 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera
The Formentera Department of Education reports that the Sa Miranda and Camí Vell nurseries will reopen from today, 15 June, welcoming back 17 youngsters at the former and 3 at the latter. Opening at 50% capacity, the escoletes can accommodate 54 of the 108 children normally enrolled.
The Formentera Department of Tourism reports that tourism information points reopened today in Sant Francesc, La Savina and Es Pujols. The sites, known as Oficines d'Informació Turística, will open Monday to Friday from 10.00am to 2.00pm and 5.00pm to 7.00pm, and Saturdays from 10.00am to 3.00pm. Assuming the 2020 tourist season can be extended later into the year, the offices are expected to remain active until November.