Sinsal SON Estrella Galicia is held on 26 to 29 July 2018 on the isle San Simón, in Redondela. At the presentation on 23 July at the Estrella Galicia bar in Vigo, the festival wanted to publically thank sponsors for their support. At the event were Victor Mantiñán and Pablo Tojeiro, from SON Estrella Galicia and New Balance respectively, brands that are more project allies than sponsors. Carmela Silva, president of the Diputación de Pontevedra, Jacobo Sutil, director of Agadic-Xunta de Galicia, María Teresa Paris, Cultura councilor in Redondela, and Águeda Gómez, responsible for the Unidad de Igualdad (Equality Department) of the University of Vigo were also present.
“Without Sinsal SON Estrella Galicia and New Balance the festival would be impossible.” That’s how firm Julio Gómez’s, the festival director, conviction is. The two private sponsorships have turned the two brands into an essential part of the festival for years. The councilor from Redondela, María Teresa Paris, has called the proposal by the company Sinsalaudio on the Isle of San Simón very important in promoting the area.
Agadic supported the brand Fest Galicia in 2018 with presence in different Xunta de Galicia departments, understanding that festivals are reference events. Jacobo Sutil, director of Agadic, highlighted the presence of this brand on the Isle of San Simón via equality and defence of the Galician language campaigns, which they are taking to the most popular Galician festivals. The president of the Diputación, Carmela Silva, reinforced the commitment of the provincial body with equality and with a festival that brings commitment and talent. “An integral project to understand a territory, commitment to the province and Galicia,” stated Silva, who considers that in a century in which the public demands excellence and difference, the San Simón festival is full of personality within the #RiasBaixasFest.
28 concerts in 4 days
The co-director of the Sinsal SON Estrella GaliciaJulio Gómez, spoke about internationalization objectives and the mobility of Galician music by the festival, shared with the sponsorships and collaborations, to whom the festival has expressed its gratitude for all its support. Special thanks went to the Xunta de Galicia, who has given permission to hold a festival in such as privileged space as is the Isle of San Simón.
800 people per day, around 3,000 in total, will visit the festival which is sold out. 28 concerts on 4 stages, 22 artists from Australia, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, UK, Romania, Slovenia, Portugal, USA, etc. 4 bands in this edition will be in playing Spain for the first time, and 11 for the first time in Galicia. A proposal that once again has the collaboration of the Faculty of Fine Arts and ESDEMGA, from the University of Vigo, which invited the researcher Aleksander Kolkowski to record poets and artists on wax cylinders. Walks, salt lab, performance, workshops with the Sistema Lupo of architecture and kayak are part of the festival offering in addition to the secret music programme. And we mustn’t forget the SON Estrella Galicia courses on the island held under the title: “A Qué Suena Tu Cerveza” (“What does your beer sound like?”)
Social Sustainability
Julio Gómez highlights the collaboration, that goes back a few years, with the Equality Unit at the Univeristy of Vigo to work towards women’s equality as part of the project. This collaboration has been reinforced by the work carried out by the Diputación de Pontevedra with the brand Rias Baixas Fest, and Agadic-Xunta de Galicia with the brand Fest Galicia, strengthening the festival’s commitment to positive action for equality. On the artistic programme there are 7 bands fronted by men and 11 by women. The work teams are mainly made up of women, with the exception, as Julio Gómez pointed out, of the sound technicians area.
Diversity is not only with reference to territory and origin, but also style, he added. “The best way to transmit diversity is to not programme in the same way and break with ghettos,” revealing that classical music will open one of the festival days. With regards to the environment, the festival is fiercely committed to a series of actions and measures such as eliminating plastics, drastically reducing the amount of printing on paper by eliminating printed programmes, a reusable glass, reusing materials, encouraging car sharing, and so on.
