A Guide to the 2022 Flamenco Festival in Medellín

TLDR? The Flamenco Festival has spaces for you to enjoy performing acts as well as moments for academic training! 

You don’t need to fly to Spain to enjoy flamenco – you can do it right here, in the city of Medellín. 

Experience the best of Andalusian culture in the City of Eternal Spring by attending the Flamenco Festival. 

Read ahead to learn everything you need to know about the festival and how it’ll take place this year! 

What Is the Flamenco Festival

The Flamenco Festival is an event centered around the traditional Spanish dance. In addition to live performances, guests can attend training lessons as well as visit talks and exhibitions. 

There are three important aspects to the festival, loaded with techniques, sensuality and stunning costumes: 

• Audience training: Working under the premise that “a trained audience is a demanding audience,” the festival seeks to promote education presentations, talks, and classes for apprentices and amateurs, as well as virtual connections with teachers from around the world. 

• Artist training: This space offers classes with teachers, choreographers, and guest ‘bailaores’ in order to offer improvements and learning to artists.

• Artistic presentations: One of the most striking parts of the festival is a presentation made up of artists from all over the world who represent the art of flamenco. 

But that’s not all – you may know flamenco is one of the most well-known and outstanding dances of the Iberian Peninsula, but you’ll also see flamenco instrumental presentations and theatre plays focused on the genre.

How Was the 2021 Flamenco Festival?

The Flamenco Festival has developed over several years in Medellín, and each yearly edition is centered around a different concept. 

In 2021, the festival’s theme was “We are Still at Home,” considering that the 2020 event was held virtually after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Last year’s festival was a hybrid of face-to-face and virtual, providing those unable to go to performances or get to Medellin a way to connect and enjoy the Flamenco Festival. 

A Bit More About the Events

There’s quite a bit to know about the events at the festival. Let’s take a closer look at what to know about the events last year and what to expect this year.

Last year’s inaugural event was a choreography presented virtually by Spanish teacher Mariano Cruceta.

Other groups presented in person in different theatres across the city: 

• Work “Blood Wedding”, at the Teatro Oficina Central de los Sueños
• Show “Flamenco Nuestro” by the Flamenco Company Aire Gitano, at Casa Teatro El Poblado
• Show “Cafés Cantantes” by the Flamenco Company Azúcar, Canela y Flamenco, at Casa Teatro El Poblado
• Tablao flamenco, from the Azúcar, Canela and Flamenco Flamenco Company, at the Pablo Tobón Uribe Theater.

COMFAMA Events

There were also some shows presented exclusively in COMFAMA venues, which is something like a family club with a social character:

• Intimate Flamenco Itinerant, Comfama de Copacabana
• Artistic presentation of the Flamenco Company Azúcar, Canela y Flamenco in the Comfama Tutucan recreational park in Rionegro
• Didactic show with the Flamenco Company Azúcar, Canela y Flamenco in Comfama de Aranjuez
• Presentation of the Flamenco Company Azúcar, Canela y Flamenco in the Plazuela de San Ignacio, Cloister of Comfama

Many of these works and shows were presented simultaneously on the festival’s online platform. There were purely virtual shows, such as the inauguration. Among the most prominent virtual shows were:

• Artistic presentation of the musical group Gitanjali from Spain
• Cuadro Flamenco, Begoña Moral from Spain
• Show of dance and guitar Yasaray Rodríguez from Spain and Cuba
• Guitar Show by Pedro Chacón from Venezuela

Training Modules

Training modules varied between in-person and virtual, but some that stood out were: 

• Flamenco guitar course, at the Casa de la Cultura El Poblado
• Flamenco dance course, at Casa de la Cultura El Poblado
• Dance workshop “Flamenco from the inside”, at Teatro La Sucursal
• Bulerías class with Castanets, virtual
• Bulerias dance class, virtual
• “Flamenco workshop, universal language”, virtual

Flamenco took over Medellín for nine days, and both paisas and visitors alike were able to delve a little deeper into Spain’s flamenco culture. 

You can get some tickets for free. However, some of these tickets will cost you a couple of bucks.

This is one of the signs that Medellin is an openly artistic city that offers stages to different genres and forms of expression!

Flamenco Festival 2022

Flamenco Festival 2022 will be held between October 7th to the 21st. The theme is dancing “inside and outside.” 

An official schedule has not yet been released. So, keep an eye on the official website of the event and its social networks if you want to learn more. 

Attend the Flamenco Festival

If you’re a lover of different artistic scenes, dance, and exploring different cultures through art, attending the Flamenco Festival is your opportunity to immerse yourself in Flamenco through dance, music, instruments, and even clothing! 

If you’re already a flamenco lover, then this is the place to be. Hop on a plane to Medellín and enjoy everything this amazing event has to offer. 

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