TNow having been around for over half a century, the Las Minas Cante Festival continues to maintain itself as one of the most important flamenco festivals. And proof of it is the program of its fifty-first edition, which will be held in La Unión (Murcia) from August 3rd to 13th, 2011. The presence of Tomatito, Farruquito, Pitingo and Blanca del Rey in the presentation of the lineup at the Madrilenian tablao Corral de la Morería has just endorsed it more. Besides those four artists, Estrella Morente and Diego el Cigala will perform at the former modernist marketplace, called the Cante Cathedral. Its inauguration day is joined by the winners of the contest’s previous edition, a prelude to the festival’s new edition, whose final phase will take place from August 10th to 13th. The complementary activities are highlighted by the cante recitals at the historic Mina Agrupa Vicenta, where the echoes of Rocío Márquez and Manuel Cuevas will be heard.

Festival del Cante de las Minas 2011 presentation (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

With the boost provided by recognitions of its own, like the 2011 Prize for Spreading Music from the Academy of Music, and the general ones, like the declaration of flamenco as Heritage of Humanity, the organization of the Las Minas Cante Festival has designed a new program gathering several of the great names of today’s flamenco. Cante, toque and baile heavyweights such as Tomatito, Pitingo, Farruquito, Diego el Cigala and Estrella Morente will perform in the festival’s fifty-first edition, which will take place from August 3rd to 13th in the Murcia-area town of La Unión.

Festival del Cante de las Minas 2011

Tomatito will present his concert dedicated to Camarón ‘Luz de guía’. Pitingo, by request of the organization, will do the live version of ‘Olé y amén’ although he explains that “it will have a more flamenco part”. The Huelva-born cantaor, moreover, will recall that year when he was a contender for the Lámpara Minera award, “when I got so nervous and I learned so much”. Farruquito affirms that it will be a privilege to present his ‘Puro flamenco’ on that stage. Diego el Cigala will be in a one-hundred-percent flamenco format. And Estrella Morente will offer a recital that will be a tribute to Enrique Morente, who the festival’s past edition was dedicated to. They are joined by the mastery of bailaora Blanca del Rey, who will bid farewell to stages “definitively and officially” at the Cante Cathedral with her emblematic ‘Soleá del mantón’.  

The prestigious contest will be especially relevant. The inauguration will be taken care of by the four winners of the past edition: cantaor Miguel Ortega, guitarist Francisco Moncayo, bailaor Jesús Fernández and pianist Abdón Alcaraz. The opportunity for new contenders for the valued awards will be from August 10th to 12th, when the semifinals of the four categories will be held. So far, with registration still open, more than one hundred people have signed up. And on the 13th, the final and the awards ceremony will take place, putting the icing on the cake of the edition.

Pitingo, Festival del Cante de las Minas 2011 presentation (Photo Daniel Muñoz)