‘Dja d’Sal junte má diáspora’ is this year’s motto, which pays tribute to the emigrated community and its contribution towards the economical and social development of the island and the country. With this reason in mind, crowds of Cape Verdeans who live in numerous countries of the diaspora, namely The Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg and the United States, will arrive and take part in the municipal festivities.
Despite the persistent difficulties regarding air and sea transportation, which challenge the inter-island connectivity and the archipelago’s link with the world, the President of the Cape Verdean Tourism Board, Jorge Spencer Lima, guarantees that essential partnerships have been established with the national airlines Bestfly and TACV, as well as with Sal’s lodging institutions. The aim is to enable the creation of travel and accommodation packages that will allow for more Cape Verdeans, residents on the home islands and abroad, to visit Sal and take part in the municipal festivities.
The 30th Santa Maria International Music Festival happens next weekend, on the 16th and 17th of September, and features an extensive list of nationally and internationally renowned artists, with well-known names in Cape Verdean music, both from the younger and the older generation.
The line-up includes Ferro Gaita, Big Z Patronato, Kino Cabral, Dina Medina, Suzana Lubrano, Dynamo, Manu Lima, Tito Paris, Rui di Bitina, Mário Marta, Mark Delman, SOS Mucci, as well as other widely famous Cape Verdean artists. In addition to this handful of artists, the Festival welcomes international performers such as: Tabanka Djaz, Calema, Don Kikas and Turbulence, Jamaican reggae artist and member of the Rastafari movement.
More than 20 thousand people are expected to take part in this celebration of music. Entry costs 500 Cape Verdean escudos, around five euros, per day.
