Free in Madrid – Summer in the City Festival
60 Days of Music, Dance, Theater, Films, Circus and Flamenco
Jun 25, 2009
Sara Baras, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gilberto Gil, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carlos Saura and James Taylor are among the rock, jazz, ballet and flamenco stars performing in Madrid during Veranos de la Villa, the Summer in the City Festival. Visitors join Madrileños in the universal language of music as legendary artists perform everything from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story to Spain’s own zarzuela – a spirited blend of flamenco and lyric opera.
A total of 1,166 performances keep the city singing and dancing from late June until the last week in August each year. The 2009 festival begins on June 25 and runs through August 23, although some events continue to the end of August..
Dancing in Madrid’s Streets
Not all the dancing and singing is on stage or in theaters and traditional concert venues. July 13 to 15 brings block dances to Madrid’s streets, and the city’s grand 16th-century Plaza Mayor, one of the finest squares in Europe, will be the setting for a free concert of Liszt and Berlioz on August 5, performed by the West-Eastern Orchestra Divan with Daniel Barenboim conducting.
More Free Music and Dance Performances
- The Music for the Sunset series will feature five free concerts by orchestra ensembles and string quartets July 7 to 10 in the Plaza de Oriente.
- The Música del Mundo series brings World Music programs to the capital’s 4th-century B.C. Templo de Debod, where groups of musicians from Greece, Morocco, Egypt and Spain will present nine free concerts between July 19 and August 8.
- Danzacalles includes free performances by two modern dance companies, July 13 to 15 in the Plaza de Sanchez Bustello.
- Madrid’s Municipal Symphonic Band will give free concerts June 28, July 5, 12 and 19 in the city’s beautiful Retiro Park.
Bargain Movies in Madrid
The Parque de La Bombilla becomes an open-air movie theater from June 25 through August 31, showing movies in every genre, including Grand Torino, Che, Harry Potter, Slum Dog Millionaire and Vicky Cristina, Barcelona. Tickets for the 200 movie screenings are only $7.
Performances in Theaters, Parks and Gardens
Every possible venue in Madrid – its theaters, concert and recital halls, cultural centers, parks, gardens and plazas become part of the Summer in the City festival, hosting everything from Shakespeare plays to fiery flamenco and tango shows.
Easily accessible Puerta del Ángel is a new venue for the 2009 festival, opening with an American production of West Side Story from June 25 to July 5. The next evening, July 6, George Benson begins a series of 27 concerts and ballets here that continue until August 3.
No one is forgotten: the Titirilandia Festival is filled with activities and performances especially for children.
Mihail Baryshnikov Dances in Madrid
For ballet lovers, the highlight of the entire festival will be the return of legendary dancer Mihail Baryshnikov, July 2 through 5 at the Matadero Madrid. The show will include four pieces: two solos, one with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky and the other created by Benjamin Millepied; a pas de deux by Ana Laguna and Mihail Baryshnikov with choreography of Mats Ek; and a new choreography by Mats Ek for Ana Laguna and Baryshnikov, entitled Place.
