Verso Libre closes its second edition with more than 2,000 attendees
The Cádiz literature and music festival exceeds 2,000 attendees over four days of free activities, from October 8 to 11.
The Verso Libre festival has brought together more than 2,000 attendees in its second edition, held from October 8 to 11 in Cádiz. The event offered 12 free activities that combined conversations, concerts, workshops and proposals for audiences of different ages.
More audience than in the first edition
According to the organization, the festival grows compared to its first edition and consolidates itself in the city's cultural calendar. The Councillor for Culture of the Cádiz City Council, Maite González, has stated that surpassing 2,000 attendees in this second edition shows that the city responds to an ambitious cultural programme.
The motto of this year has been Atlántida: entre el verso, el cante y el mar, inspired by the unfinished work of Manuel de Falla. The programme has coincided with the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth and the 80th of his death, and has placed emphasis on the Ibero-American perspective, women creators and new generations.
Four days of music and literature
The second edition started on Thursday, October 8 with the inaugural forum El futuro de la cultura, opened by the mayor of Cádiz, Bruno García, and continued with a meeting on flamenco and music of going and return with Faustino Núñez, David Palomar and Pituquete. There were also activities for students from secondary schools in Cádiz and a creative writing workshop open to the public.
On Friday, the ECCO hosted with a full house the conversation Duende, realismo mágico y otras invenciones, with Rosa Montero, Jorge Volpi and José Javier León, and the concert Alrededor de Falla, by the harmonica player Antonio Serrano and the pianist Rosa Torres-Pardo.
On Saturday, the recital Cantando a las poetas del 27, by Sheila Blanco, stood out, with the courtyard of the Casa de Iberoamérica packed. The closing on Sunday included the route Cádiz se lee caminando and the family masterclass A golpe de cajón, by Israel Suárez «Piraña».
Organization and venues
The festival has been spread between the Casa de Iberoamérica, the Antiguos Depósitos de Tabaco, the ECCO and the Centro Municipal de Arte Flamenco La Merced. It is organized by Be Cooltural, in collaboration with the Fundación Paco de Lucía, and has the participation of the Fundación Feltrinelli-Anagrama and the Fundación Carlos Edmundo de Ory. It is part of the municipal initiative Cádiz, una ciudad de libro, and in this edition it has had a grant from the Ministry of Culture, through the Dirección General del Libro, del Cómic y de la Lectura.
The literary director of the festival, Violeta Dávila, has stated that they have been «unos días extraordinarios en los que nos hemos sentido muy cerca del público y muy conectadas con una ciudad que lleva el talento creativo en su ADN».
