Much More May festival dazzles Cartagena with art and activism

Over the weekend, Cartagena celebrated one of its largest springtime festivities, a festival that brought live music, dancing, and entertainment to the streets to dazzle the public. The Much More May festival, now in its remarkable 20th edition, featured dozens of performances and workshops that locals and visitors to the Costa Calida hub participated in.

Cartagena’s springtime festival dazzles audiences

This edition of the Much More May festival featured a heavy emphasis on performing arts. During the weekend, those wandering the streets of Cartagena were treated to acrobatic shows, contemporary circus performances, poetry recitals, and live music, all under the theme of this year’s edition, “Against Indifference.”

One of the most anticipated performances was “Wild,” a performance combining dance, acrobatics, and physical theatre by the British company Motion House. The show, which drew a huge crowd, transformed the stage into a forest that symbolised the hectic nature of urban life and reflected on the disconnection of human beings from nature in modern society.

Another major highlight of the festival was a performance of “The Speed of Light,” a community theatre production that put the residents of Cartagena in the spotlight. The performance featured experiences, songs, and dreams of local talents. This piece was performed in the plaza of the former Centre for Innovation and Media, to a great turnout.

Poetry workshops also featured heavily during the festival, highlighting the importance of the arts to this spectacular springtime event. The recital “Practices for Inmanence” drew a large audience and created a space for reflection on engaging in dialogue with nature and relating to others.

Events for all ages were also hosted at the Cartagena City Council’s festival art lab, including a culinary workshop, an experimental ceramics workshop, and more.

Incredible art exhibition available for summertime audiences

Additionally, Caliu, an exhibition produced by the festival which brings together various works from artist Fito Conesa’s career, will be available for viewing in Cartagena until the end of June. Fito Conesa is a Cartagena artist, now based in Barcelona, who explores the intersection of language, sound, and interpretation of music. His work has featured in large-scale artistic exhibitions, including at the ARCO Madrid Contemporary Art Fair and institutions like the MACBA and CaixaForum.