The XXI edition of Atlántico Sonoro offers a dozen activities in Tenerife and La Gomera with a focus on the evolution of culture and tourism in non-capital areas.

• The Festival begins this Thursday, 12 June, with the conference “El valor de los recuerdos, la memoria que desaparece” (The value of memories, the memory that disappears), in Icod de los Vinos. In the same municipality, on 19 June, a second day will be held, this time on the evolution of leisure activities in the villages of the islands.

  
  

• Music will be one of the main vehicles of the Festival, with performances by Pieles, Escuela de Percusión Canaria, Said Muti and Acantha Lang.

  
  

• The public will be able to learn about the traditional instruments of the chácara and drum and the unique silbo gomero, through two workshops.

  
  

• The ephemeral art, a classic of Atlántico Sonoro, will be present again with the creation of a large wooden sculpture by Luigi Stinga.

The Festival Atlántico Sonoro is back with a 21st edition that once again highlights the talent of the creators of the Canary Islands, with a sample of the most current sounds and the cultural roots that influence and shape them. Tenerife and La Gomera will host a dozen activities, with the focus on the transmission of popular wisdom from the elderly to the young, the evolution of leisure and tourism in non-capital and rural areas and the knowledge of elements of our heritage, such as the chácara and drum and the silbo gomero. Different artistic disciplines express how the heritage legacy of the Canary Islands continues to live on in the creations of today's artists.

The Festival will begin this Thursday, 12 June, at the Carmelo Méndez Quintero Cultural Centre (Las Granaderas), in Icod de los Vinos, with the conference El valor de los recuerdos, la memoria que desaparece, at 5 p.m., with free admission until full capacity is reached. This meeting will reflect on oral traditions and expressions, popular literature and how the elderly play an important role as transmitters of this cultural heritage.

A week later, on 19 June, the Centro Cultural La Mancha, also in Icod de los Vinos, will host a second day, at 17:30, with the title ¿Cómo era nuestra opción cultural hace 50 años? The evolution of leisure activities in the villages of the islands. This debate will give a voice to silenced communities in rural areas, where leisure and tourism alternatives have served as the mainstays for the socialisation of the inhabitants and for attracting visitors.

This twenty-first edition of the Festival, produced by Cauproges, has the support of the Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (INAEM), the Government of the Canary Islands, through its public companies PROMOTUR Turismo Islas Canarias and Instituto Canario de Desarrollo Cultural, Cabildo de La Gomera, Ayuntamiento de Vallehermoso and with the collaboration of the Ayuntamiento de Icod de los Vinos and the Asociación Cultural Silbo Gomero.

Different music with the same origin

Different musical styles will come together in La Gomera, on the Esplanada del casco de Vallehermoso, to demonstrate that the islands are a centre of cultural creation and also a ‘showcase’ for music from other parts of the world. The musical proposals to be enjoyed at the Festival have in common current sounds based on roots, on the natural evolution of styles from different cultures.

In this way, the company Pieles will offer the concert Diez años, with collaborations by Angélica Pérez, José Manuel Ramos, Domingo ‘El Colorao’, Althay Paez, and Andrés Molina, on 27 June, at 21:00. His avant-garde proposal is inspired by the folklore of the Canary Islands but also draws on traditional manifestations from other cultures around the world.

This company has a training initiative called Percusión Canaria, so that people with an artistic interest can develop their musical skills, using instruments such as the Gomero and Herreño drums, the chácaras, the tambourine, the güiro or the aniseed bottle, among many others. Some of the musical combos generated in this training platform will perform in the Concert of the Escuela de Percusión Canaria + Compañía Pieles, on the 28th of June, at 12:30 pm.

On the same day, but at 20:30, the public will be able to enjoy the talent of the young composer, singer and guitarist, Said Muti, who, in 2024, released his third album, Criminales del Sueño, with the collaboration of artists such as Tarque (M-Clan), Pedro Guerra and Shuarma, among others.

Meanwhile, at 21:30, Acantha Lang will take the stage of the Explanada del casco de Vallehermoso, one of the most in-demand artists in soul music today. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, she is currently on a tour to present her first album, which reached number 3 on the UK jazz and soul charts..

Workshops and the Atlántico Sonoro Award

As part of the Festival's efforts to transmit the richness of the Canary Islands' cultural heritage, two workshops will be organised and the work of a figure or collective in favour of the defence of Canarian culture will once again be highlighted. The award will be presented on 27 June, on the stage of the Esplanade in the town centre of Vallehermoso, at 20:30.

The chácaras and the drum will be the protagonists of the workshop to be held in the Plaza de la Constitución in Vallehermoso on 29 June at eleven o'clock in the morning. These two instruments are a fundamental part, together with the tamborcillo, of the cultural heritage of La Gomera, a singular ethnographic sample, which is fundamental in the conservation of traditional ballads and oral tradition.

One hour later, it will be the turn of the Silbo Gomero Workshop, a unique language in the world that was recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. This activity will be given by the Silbo Gomero Cultural Association, the first entity at regional level created for the protection and defence of this cultural wealth.

Ephemeral art at the Mirador del Almendrillo

One of the Festival's classic hallmarks is the ephemeral artwork that the recycled wood sculptor Luigi Stinga has created in several editions of this initiative. It is an exclusive, ephemeral piece that offers a unique experience to residents and tourists alike. In this 21st edition, from 28 June, the Mirador del Almendrillo, in Vallehermoso, will house a newly created large-format wooden sculpture.

The combination of sustainability, creativity, traditions and contemporary elements, with visions from different and diverse artistic disciplines, characterise the Festival Atlántico Sonoro, one of the most unique festivals in Spain, always open to less visible social and cultural realities, such as island and/or rural territories.