Neither vaccination passport, nor masks, nor distancing: Cruïlla Barcelona points to a 2022 edition in which it will fully resume its pulse after two anomalous summers, and for this it focuses on a precise act, the dance, so restricted during pandemic time. Will be “a Cruïlla so that people can dance”, highlighted this Wednesday the director of the Fòrum festival, Jordi Herreruela, and there the commitment to figures from the Latin sphere is significant, with Ruben Blades and Juan Luis Guerra joining the poster in its highest band, who will coexist with signings from the Anglo-Saxon pop field, such as Jack White and Duran Duran.
After long weeks with the poster closed, observing the evolution of the sixth viral wave, Cruïlla finally uncovers it after glimpsing “the first rays of light” that predict, even with all the precautions, the horizon of a viable summer for the big festivals. The holding of a face-to-face press conference, for the first time since 2019, at the old Damm factory, was already an indicator of this return to normality, reaffirmed with a program that recovers its four-day format, from Wednesday, July 6 to Saturday, July 9.
five minutes of life
Offer in which that high-flying Latin night shines, on Saturday, with a concert, unique in Europe, by Rubén Blades, with the Roberto Delgado Orchestra, celebrating their classics and presenting ‘Salswing!’, album of the year at the Latin Grammys. A figure, Blades, that Herreruela claims to have had in mind in these long times of pandemic as a result of one of his old compositions, ‘The song at the end of the world’, in which “in the context of the cold war, he asked the people what would you do if you had five minutes to live, and the answer was to dance & rdquor ;. The Panamanian guru will share the poster with another great, the Dominican Juan Luis Guerra, with his group 4.40, an unprecedented tandem in European festivals. Latin will also stomp on Thursday with a name already announced months ago, the Puerto Rican Residente (Calle 13) and the Mexican group Molotov. With these presences in the foreground, Cruïlla moves a piece to “put the Latin world above the Anglo-Saxon, which is a rarity & rdquor ;, Jordi Herreruela indicated. “But, instead of copying the posters of other festivals, we try to surprise with a poster that will hardly be replicated, but that sets the trend.”
In terms of international pop figures, Cruïlla scores the return of Jack White, former member of The White Stripes, with two albums on the way, and the British classic Duran Duran, survivor of the ‘new romantic’ era, who will come two days before starring in a macro-concert in London’s Hyde Park. That will be on Saturday, a day also open to other proposals from the islands: the electronic pop of hot chips and the amalgamation of rock’n’roll, blues and soul of Vintage Trouble.
More names to be revealed
The large indigenous plot offers a spectrum of styles: from young urban figures, such as the Majorcan rapper Relays B (Wednesday’s headliner) to a parade of pop figures (Zahara, Joe Crepúsculo, Elefantes, the return of Delafé and Las Flores Azules) and creators who cross genres, such as Queralt Lahoz and Stay Homas. And presences very of the moment: both Rigoberta Bandini and Tanxugueiras they get a place on the poster, of which 33 names transcend for now, “and there are about 15 more to reveal & rdquor;Herreruela announced. Musical plot to which will be added that relating to ‘comedy’ and other artistic manifestations.
This Cruïlla maintains the capacity in the 25,000 people a day, although the first day, Wednesday, is reduced to 15,000. That day, the programming will close at 11:00 p.m., and on Thursday, at 00:30 a.m., in contrast to the early morning slots (until 5:00 a.m.) on the weekend. Measures aimed at “minimize” the inconvenience that the festival can cause among the residents of the neighborhood. “It’s a matter of conscience & rdquor ;, said Herreruela. “A festival like this has an impact and you have to be sensitive to it and try to reduce it. But there is no specific problem in this regard & rdquor ;.
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For Cruïlla, caressing normalcy this summer is pertinent considering that “The entire society is already in normal mode & rdquor; and that “no one questions whether the Champions League will be held or not”. Herreruela stressed that the festival “will adapt to whatever is needed, of course”, but that “There is no plan B”.