The New Bands Festival had not been held for two years. Its last edition was in 2019, when Wilmer Franco’s country music project was the winner. A year later, the arrival of the pandemic paralyzed everything. Now, after two years of absence, the festival from which groups such as Candy 66, Los Mentas, La Vida Bohéme and Viniloversus, among many others, have emerged, returns to the streets.
The last edition of the New Bands Festival took place in the South Plaza of Altamira, Chacao municipality. There, Wilmer Franco’s country music proposal convinced those present and the jury, who chose him as the winner of the day. It became the first solo project, aside from Acarigua, to win the festival.
With the arrival of the pandemic, large events, both national and international, opted for digital and decided to continue in a virtual format. For the Fundación Nuevas Bandas it was not an option. «These two years have been terribly hard for the cultural movement. But Félix, who is totally neurotic, was totally convinced that we were going to do it and in the format in which it was always wanted, because this must be returned to the street as an absolute gift for everyone”, says José Tomás Angulo, vice president of the New Bands Foundation.
This year the festival is committed to a larger proposal than the previous edition, similar to that of the major international festivals. For this reason, the place chosen for the celebration on Saturday, August 13, is the Chacao Cultural Center; but the party will not be limited to just this space.
Starting at 12 noon, people will be able to enjoy five platforms arranged on the street in front of the Chacao Cultural Center, two main ones for festival participants and three additional ones for special presentations, while on the premises there will be special performances, a photographic exhibition , a fair of vinyl records and spaces for drinks and food.
The closure of the New Bands will take place in the concert hall of the cultural center, where there will be two special presentations and Anakenawinning band of the 2018 edition, will put an end to the 2022 edition.
The jury in charge of selecting the winning band, among the nine proposals in competition, is made up of Antonio Romero, bass player of Anakena; Miguel Ángel Noya, keyboardist and composer; Mafe Burbano, from Cusica; and Arturo Ochoa, founder of Maqueta 1. Among the prizes that the winning group will receive, the recording of their album at Cusica Studios stands out.
The greatest difficulty faced by the New Bands Festival is financing, because being a free event it is more complicated to cover the expenses; however, this did not stop its organizers. “In Venezuela, sponsorship has fallen a lot, there are few companies that contribute. I would say that this is the main problem, but in our case, which we have 30 years of experience, we knew what the keys were that we had to touch and we managed to incorporate several private brands but, above all, the mayor’s office was very supportive to the organization of the festival”, explains Félix Allueva, president of the Fundación Nuevas Bandas.
Regarding the criticism of the New Bands Festival, which has emerged in recent weeks, due to the participation of Otro Beta in the central region circuit, Allueva considers that the information about what happened was manipulated. «What happened in Maracay was a union of a festival that has been around for many years, which is Another Beta. Yes, they are people close to the government vision, but we reached an agreement, we did the production, everything went super well and the political issue was never touched. The central thing was the art, the music », he affirms. And he adds: “I maintain that type of alliance with other organizations. I work with the people of San Agustín and we are doing very well».
Félix Allueva considers that it is a moment of union in the midst of so many years of polarization. «I have dedicated myself in recent years to seeking that bridge with artists and producers who are doing things, who are ideologically in another position. I don’t care, I can talk and negotiate. That is what has happened in recent months, I have tried to bring together interesting proposals that are on the official side and on the opposition side. Not only have I tried, I succeeded, ”says the cultural manager.
