In the Archipelago of Music, Stages and Streets of Cape Verde, in Loulé

The Creole language can be heard in the winding streets of the historic centre. In one of them, there is a wall with colourful motifs that replicates the National Centre of Art, Crafts and Design (CNAD), which opened in Mindelo in 2022. You enter through a beautiful corridor and come across the Cloister of the Convent of Espírito Santo. On the left, a lady makes handicrafts. On the right, people eat cachupa and drink grogue. In the centre, there are concertinas, ferrinho and black bodies dancing.

We are in the “courtyard” of Cabo Verde, in Loulé, these days, a kind of new island in the archipelago, in the context of the MED Festival . In that specific space you can explore gastronomy, crafts, attend basket-weaving workshops, participate in dance moments and even discover traditional theater.

On July 5th, Cape Verde celebrates 50 years of independence and the MED decided to celebrate this moment by highlighting the archipelago.

If there is one thing that has marked the life of the islands over the last few decades, it is music. You go to Mindelo, Santiago or Fogo, for example, and it is everywhere. It sets the rhythm of the days, of the movements of people, giving them meaning and substance. It does not replace the air we breathe, but almost. It was like that 50 years ago. Music played a fundamental role in the independence process, in the run-up to and, especially, in the years following 1975.

Political rallies or public information sessions often featured live performances by iconic groups of the time. It was also common for these sessions to end in dance parties. Music served as both a unifying force and a means of transmitting political ideas. Most of the time, not in a declared or direct way, but this political fire was there. Historical groups, still active today, such as Os Tubarões, Ferro Gaita or Bulimundo, participated in these dynamics.

Two of them, Os Tubarões – with Dino d' Santiago – and Ferro Gaita will be in Loulé. It is no coincidence. So many years later, what they always broadcast is more relevant than ever. The new generations, in Cape Verde, Portugal or in the diaspora, pay homage to them, citing them as an influence. In Portugal, from Dino to Fogo Fogo, from Scúru Fitchádu to Fidju Kitxora, there are many examples.

But because the reality of Cape Verdean music is rich and diverse – morna, coladeira, funaná, batuque, waltz, kutchi pó and other genres – there will naturally be many other things to listen to. This Wednesday, the reception day, the first moment took place.

It was the voice of Ceuzany , a Cape Verdean of Senegalese origin, that made itself heard, accompanied by her band, entering energetically, volcanically, with coladeiras, to intertwine this initial vigorous swing, with mornas and calmer moments.

But of course, the festival, like the guest country, is an archipelago of music, stages and winding streets, so there will be much more to discover with Vieux Farka Touré, Queen Omega, Congos, Sílvia Péres Cruz & Salvador Sobral, Carminho, A Garota Não, and many others. Until Sunday. This hasn't even started yet.

CHRONICLE #1 by Vítor Belanciano