Artists hope Sines maintains "the love for culture"

Organized exclusively by the city council for 25 editions, the Festival Músicas do Mundo (FMM) brings around 100,000 spectators to Sines every year for dozens of concerts by musicians from various geographies and genres.

"Culture is not something to entertain those who have nothing to do, culture is the right of the population and this is independent of which party is in power," says Brazilian artist Bia Ferreira, who performed at the FMM for the second time.

"Culture is what builds a people, a people without culture is a dead people," emphasizes the 32-year-old singer, who was a child when the festival began, but knows that the FMM made Sines "known as a city that loves culture" and "it would be very sad" if that disappeared.

Socialist Nuno Mascarenhas -- who succeeded Manuel Coelho, founder of the FMM in 1999, two years after being elected mayor by the CDU -- cannot run again for the Sines mayoralty, a city where Chega won the May legislative elections.

"It wouldn't look good on a mayor's CV to be the gravedigger of this festival," notes Capicua, who performed at this edition but also attends the festival as a spectator.

"This is one of the most interesting festivals we have on the national scene, first and foremost because of its loyal audience," says the Portuguese artist, considering the program "extremely interesting" in a context increasingly dictated by market laws, and noting that "the entire city is mobilized" for an annual gathering of "celebration of difference."

At the same time -- he highlights --, the FMM is concerned with parity between female and male artists "and this is also a rarity" in the national context.

"It would be an inestimable loss not only for Sines, but for the country, (...) if this festival were to be discontinued", he emphasizes.

A newcomer to the "incredible" FMM, Portuguese Lena d'Água says that, when she saw the video of the festival's 25th anniversary, she was moved "by the artistic wealth" that has already passed through Sines -- and also through Porto Covo, where the festival has had an extension for years.

"This audience is wonderful, spectacular, dancing, smiling, singing, saying things," he described, at the end of the concert "in the late afternoon, [when] that beautiful light was already coming down above the sun."

"If I didn't have old dogs that need me, I would still come here to spend a few days," he commented, hoping that "the festival continues" with the next executive.

At Sines Castle, Lena d'Água sang songs from before the FMM had even been founded. "Memory has always been important to me. A people without memory is a people without roots, and a people without roots is a people without support, without a grip on the land, without stability," she emphasizes.

The FMM "is big" and Bonga came to do his part in the "party of diversity", in a "world that is a mess".

At almost 83 years old, the Angolan singer came to perform at the FMM as someone who only goes "to those parties that really have a lot of weight, a lot of representation", and to satisfy the audience that has been following him for more than 50 years.

Another experienced musician, Mozambican Roberto Chitsonzo, highlights "the symbolism" of a festival that brings together artists from various continents, in a spirit of coexistence.

The FMM is a place where he feels at home and where the Portuguese-speaking community is also represented. "To celebrate, to celebrate, to extol our cultures and showcase the most beautiful aspects of our countries," he emphasizes.

For example, this edition included funaná from Cape Verde, which has one of the largest communities in Portugal in Sines.

Passed down from generation to generation, funaná is now in the hands of Letício Ferreira Vaz and brothers Adelino and António, who form the trio Fidjus Codé di Dona and are already teaching their children and nephews.

"We won't stop, this way it will continue, so it doesn't die," emphasizes Letício (better known as Tinho), wanting to "open gates" to show funaná to the whole world.

The 25th edition of the World Music Festival ends today, with fireworks and nine concerts, including those by the Portuguese bands Miss Universo and Bateu Matou.

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