FMM Sines - Festival Músicas do Mundo

FMM - Festival Músicas do Mundo is a music festival in Portugal organized by Sines’ City Council [http://www.sines.pt] , every year, in July (mainly the last week or weeks). It's the biggest festival of its kind organized in Portugal.

Philosophy

FMM was created in 1999 with the intent of giving a new and fresh use to the town’s Castle. The monument was the birthplace of Vasco da Gama, and the festival, showing the diversity of musical expressions in the world, follows and remembers the intercultural revolution brought about by the navigator’s travels. Today, the festival goes beyond its original physical boundaries and way beyond any kind of historical justification. The philosophy is to bring people together through the emotion of discovering new music.

Music style

From world music to jazz, from folk to blues, from tango to reggae, from classical music to fusion.

tages

The festival takes place in Sines’ historical centre (the Castle, Sines' Arts Centre and the beach) and the village of Porto Covo, 13km south of Sines. All the venues are outdoors, except for the Arts Centre. The Castle holds a maximum of 6,500 people, Porto Covo 8,000 and the Beach Stage 15,000.

History

Since 1999, the total audience of FMM amounts to 240,000 people. Shemekia Copeland, Omar Sosa, Taraf de Haidouks, Black Uhuru feat. Sly & Robbie, Hedningarna, Kronos Quartet, The Skatalites, Tom Zé, Femi Kuti, Hermeto Pascoal, Marc Ribot, KTU, Master Musicians of Jajouka, Trilok Gurtu, Toumani Diabaté, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Mahmoud Ahmed and Gogol Bordello are some of the highlights of the programme.

Quotes

FMM has received abundant praise from the press and the artists alike. In 2000, Jacques Dénis, from French daily Libération, wrote: “In Sines, it’s mainly world music in the move”. In 2001, L’Humanité’s Patrick Koan said: “An impeccable programme for the quality of its concerts and its balance”. In 2005, FMM was considered “one of the best festivals in Europe” on Finnish accordion player Kimmo Pohjonen’s website. The Bad Plus American jazz trio wrote in their blog: “The festival seems to be one of the most serious parties around” (2006). The same year Iraqi singer Farida said that FMM was “one of the five best festivals” she had ever taken part. In 2007, Malian signer Oumou Sangaré called it "the festival of joy".

External links

* [http://www.fmm.com.pt/english // FMM's official website]