25 may

The 23rd edition of FEX, the extension of the Granada Festival, will start next June 9th and will run until July 12th. A total of 61 activities will be offered with the support of “la Caixa” Foundation as a Protecting Entity. These events will take place across the capital’s streets, squares, parks, theaters, and palaces, as well as in 12 municipalities within the province of Granada: Alhendín, Bubión, Galera, Gójar, Huétor Vega, Orce, Pampaneira, Pulianas, Purullena, Salobreña, Santa Fe, and Villanueva de las Torres.

In addition to other extraordinary activities for the Granada Penitentiary Center (Albolote), the “Virgen de las Nieves” Children’s Hospital, and a concert at the Port of Motril, which will be presented tomorrow, May 26th, at 11:00h. As is tradition, the FEGRABAND brass fanfares will announce the start of the Festival throughout the morning and afternoon of Tuesday, June 9th, in the markets and squares of Granada As night falls, FEX moves to the Alhambra to inaugurate its program with an extraordinary concert performed by the UGR Orchestra and the Manuel de Falla Choir, commemorating the fifth centenary of Charles V’s visit to Granada. Likewise, the University will bring a contemporary staging of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum to the province (Galera, June 21st), and the Education Sciences Choir will celebrate its 30th Anniversary at the Crucero of the Hospital Real (July 5th).

The wide variety of proposals for all audiences unfolds throughout this edition, featuring both national and international music, circus, and dance companies. These include companies such as Lanördika (June 26th) with Tres Tristes Trolls in El Fargue, which debuts as a FEX venue; Luichi Leal with Re.Cuerda, a tale for adults and a poem for children told through diabolo and juggling in the provinces; and the Cia. Manolo Alcántara with his show for all audiences Refugi (10 July). From Ireland, Jazzville Productions presents The Most Dangerous Animal in the World, featuring two performances in Granada city (July 1st and
2nd) and one in the province (Pampaneira, July 3rd).

In the year we commemorate the Festival’s 75th anniversary, a grand celebration was a must: Aria by Zenit Aerial Ballet. This large-scale aerial ballet show transforms the sky into a stage, combining choreography, music, and the city into a unique visual and emotional experience at a height of 30 meters (June 18th).

In this edition, FEX continues its collaboration with the Municipal Band of Granada, which will offer two concerts in the capital (June 19th and 24th). This partnership has also launched The Festival Band within the Manuel de Falla Courses. This initiative, a new feature this year, aims to contribute to the performance and dissemination of the repertoire for this type of musical ensemble.

Humor will play a significant role in the programming, highlighting shows such as Nozing by the company Ual.la!, a work nominated for the Max Awards in the categories of Best Musical or Lyric Show and Best Musical Composition for a Stage Space. The gestural comedy of Dance Mobile in ¿Perdidos? and the immersive, multidisciplinary proposal La conferencia de los pájaros by Insectotròpics, add original pieces to the program in this 23rd edition.

Dance, inclusion and accessibility

Contemporary, flamenco, Spanish, and urban dance could not be missing either, as well as our essential events with the Participatory Scene Workshop. On this occasion, the Cía. Danza Vinculados presents Echoes de un conflicto, an intergenerational, inclusive and accessible show with a cast of 50 dancers, with and without intellectual and sensory disabilities, between the ages of 6 and 80, led by a professional team of choreographers with a long international career.

For their part, the Jovenes en Danza Workshops from the "Reina Sofía" Professional Dance Conservatory of Granada will premiere Interferencia this year, a contemporary dance choreography conceived by Asun Noales with music by Hans Zimmer and Kangding Ray. The Spanish dance piece is entitled La Creación, choreography and concept of La Venidera (Irene Tena and Albert Hernández). Inspired by Granada, the piece traces a landscape of dancing bodies where culture, faith and daily life intertwine through twelve female performers (26, 27 and 28 June).

Other outstanding dance proposals include the prestigious classical Indian dancer and choreographer specializing in Bharatanatyam, Malavika Sarukkai, who has been awardedthe Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (National Academy of Performing Arts of India) and the Padma Shri Award, India’s fourth-highest civilian honor. Within the framework of the Spain-

India Dual Year, we will be able to enjoy her most successful works in a recital at the La Chumbera Auditorium, with the Alhambra as a backdrop (July 9th). Dance and music, like paintings on a canvas transformed into space, in Intangible o La mujer que quiso ser hombre, by the company of Sara Calero, which invites the viewer to immerse themselves in a transformative, meditative observation and connects us with our humanity (June 23rd). The companies Proyecto Lanza with Danzante, laMonto with Next to my skin, Led Silhouette with Ultimatum, DA.TE Danza with Únicos (for children aged 3 and up), and Banda Esfèrica with ¡Ranas en el cielo, agua en la tierra!, make up a whole range of dance proposals from different genres and latitudes.

Flamenco, classical music and international proposals

The 23rd edition also has the pleasure of having the brand new winner of the first edition of the ARIA competition, crazy about opera. Through a journey that unites opera, Spanish song, and zarzuela, the Malagan soprano KLAUDYA offers a program in which her Andalusian roots, her artistic identity, and an idea of rebirth, deeply linked to her own path, coexist. Flamenco, for its part, is once again present at FEX with artists such as the singer Antonio Cortés and the Amisuri project led by María La Mónica and Adri Trujillo.

Soloists and chamber ensembles take center stage in the classical section of FEX, featuring performances by the violin, cello, and piano ensembles Trío Atmos and Trío Kairós; the soundscapes drawn by the flutes of Jumping Trío; and the stories, legends, and dreams of the flute, clarinet, and piano ensemble Trío al-Mudix. Special mention goes to the programming of three international string quartets: the Singaporean Concordia Quartet, the Swedish Monbijou Quartet, and the Swiss Arda Quartet, as part of the Extension of the String Quartet Masterclasses of the Guadix Clásica Festival (July 8th). There will also be proposals such as that of the organist Pilar Cabrera, the Terrae group and a special concert by the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra in the Alcazaba de las Siete Torres de Orce.

Solidarity concerts, meetings and workshops with artists

The social commitment of FEX, always backed by the collaboration of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, is maintained through a series of three charity concerts on June 26th, 27th, and July 1st. The concerts will take place in emblematic venues across the city, such as the Colegio Mayor Santa Cruz la Real, the Crucero del Hospital Real, and the Palacio de los Córdova. Ticket proceeds, with a single price of 15 euros, will go entirely to the social causes of the women's shelter OCREM, the crisis helpline Teléfono de la Esperanza, the international aid organization Medicus Mundi, the health support associations Parkinson Granada and AGRAFIM, and the local charity ASPACGRAP.

This cycle includes the El tiempo y la memoria show, starring the singer Juan Pinilla and the guitarist David Caro; the musical journey through the Mediterranean with influences from different musical traditions by Yanub; and the classical guitar recital by one of the young performers with the greatest promise of his generation, Gonzalo Peñalosa Biedma.

Meetings, workshops with artists and Manuel de Falla courses

Six encounters will be presented with artists who will share their creative processes with the audience, alongside more than a dozen workshops where the companies present at FEX work with local associations, thanks to the collaboration of the ”la Caixa” Foundation. On the occasion of the celebration of the 75th anniversary, the directors of the event meet in Granada who, since 1985, have contributed to its development and growth. Together with Tomás Marco, composer and friend of the Festival, they will share anecdotes and reflections on its history and future in an Encounter open to the public. In addition, we welcome premieres, such as that of the documentary film that tells the unknown story of one of the great Spanish composers of the twentieth century, the Granada-born Francisco Alonso.

The final showcases of the Manuel de Falla Courses join all this live arts activity that extends over 5 weeks, which is complemented by the usual exhibition Photography, Music, Dance, and City, and another exceptional one titled Geometry and Grace 1952 – 2026 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Granada Festival.

In its 23rd edition, FEX puts once again Grenada and its province center stage.