A unique, multi-faceted festival
Now a fixture of Menorcan summers, the Pedra Viva (which translates as "Living Stone") festival is not new to the scene. Launched in 2012, the 2024 edition will be the 13th. Over a decade of experience has enabled its organizers (a non-profit association) to become true specialists in eclectic programming, as well as careful scenographers, eager to design shows where place and art are in harmony (it has to be said that Menorca is home to a host of sites with particularly remarkable architecture and environments). Multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted, the Pedra Viva festival program includes plays and dance performances, large-scale concerts and more intimate classical recitals, as well as performances by contemporary artists who bring out the very essence of the sites where they take place. Always with the same desire to experiment, to open up the field of possibilities in dialogue with the site, with the stone. To make stone speak, even dance!
A program to suit every taste
Held throughout the summer, the festival has become one of the island's most important events over the past dozen years, and a model of success in terms of symbiosis and harmony between content and form, in other words, between the artistic proposal and the physical location in which it is held. And this is one of the organizers' stated intentions: to enhance the value of remarkable sites by giving them a function, a cultural utility. These three months of festivals are also an opportunity to experience unique and often unprecedented artistic moments, featuring artists from all over the world, as well as local ones! Whatever the level of fame of the artists presented, whether they are unknown or already established, it is always the quality of their proposal and their authenticity that are the focus of the programmers' attention. Programming is not left to chance, far from it! A rigorous selection, in keeping with the festival's splendid sites, is the order of the day. Space plays a fundamental role in this festival, and it's essential to find the artistic proposal that will best interact with a given venue!
How do you create a show whose scenography matches the art on display? How can we ensure that the dialogue between a given natural or built site on the island and a given artist is as fluid and beautiful as possible? That's what Pedra Viva is all about! And it's precisely because the organizers take their task so seriously that they've already been able to treat us to some memorable performances, such as a show by the Barcelona Ballet set against the setting sun and the immensity of the sea, a piano concert presented at the same time as a live light show in the magnificent setting of the Hauser & Wirth Gallery on the Illa del Gusto, and an evening in the company of a number of artists. Wirth Gallery on Illa del Rei (King's Island, Mahon Bay), or an intimate folk music concert in one of Menorca's Talayotic villages, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Far from being a mere decorative element, space is the main actor in the Pedra Viva festival.
World-class artists and a local springboard
In previous editions, a number of musicians and/or singers have performed in the island's unique spaces, and those who attended still remember them. Examples include Catalan violinist and conductor Jordi Savall, Spanish singer Silvia Pérez Cruz, Portuguese singer-songwriter Salvador Sobral and the prolix and brilliant Minorcan pianist and composer Marco Mezquida, spanish singer-actress Rigoberta Bandini and pop-folk (but also classical and Fado) singer-songwriter Dulce Pontes, as well as Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. On the dance front, a number of famous companies were also on hand, including Barcelona dance companies La Veronal and Mal Pelo, and Basque company Kukai Dantza. Pedra Viva's program is also enriched by smaller, sometimes more alternative offerings, including emerging artists who are already making a name for themselves on the Spanish national scene.
And let's not forget the productions born of the festival itself, an incubator of talent, a driving force behind artistic creation and a tool for empowering artists! Each year, artists from the Balearic Islands are invited to create theatrical works, musicals, concerts and/or shows that blend genres, oscillating between the most modern arts and tradition. These original works are presented as part of the Pedra en Viu festival: a day that promotes art and creativity on a local scale.
Exceptional spaces
Let's now present, one by one, the ten or so spaces in which Pedra Viva festival performances are usually held, or will be held for the first time in 2024.
Ciutadella Town Hall wall.
Ciutadella Town Hall is a magnificent fortified enclosure dating back to medieval times. Located on Calle de la Marina, in the heart of Menorca's cultural capital, the surrounding wall provides a stunning backdrop, just a stone's throw from the port. A historic site.
Binicalsitx quarry
The Binicalsitx quarry is a private open-air space in the municipality of Ferreries, in the center of the island. An area of remarkable scenic beauty, where stone meets the vegetation of Menorcan groves, mineral white meets plant green, hardness meets softness, light meets shade. Sensational.
Torre Saura
The casa de campo del Comte de Torre Saura (country house of the Count of Torre Saura) is another magical space in the heart of nature, very close to Son Saura beach (south-west of the island), where you are instantly transported several centuries back in time.
Torralba d'en Salort
Located in the Alaior region, the particularly well-preserved Talayotic village of Torralba d'en Salort - a prehistoric culture that left an impressive legacy of buildings on the island, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2023 - welcomes the public for a journey back in time... 3,000 years!
Torre del Ram
An important part of Menorca's military heritage and one of the highest points in the municipality of Ciutadella, Torre del Ram is another unique site with a panoramic view that's not lacking in charm.
Sanctuary of the Virgen del Toro
The highest point on the island, the Sanctuary of the Virgen del Toro sits atop Mount Toro, in the center of the island, near Es Mercadal. A breathtaking 360° view and a spiritual place, as close to heaven as you can get.
Robadones quarry
Literally between Maó and Es Castell, the Robadones quarry is a singular and spectacular place: the immense space it shelters is raised by imposing columns, creating an extraordinary scenographic space. It was here that the very first concert of the very first edition of the festival took place.
Romantic gardens of Sa Vinyeta
Described at length in the book Die Balearen by Archduke Lluís Salvador of Austria for their heritage and historical value, the romantic gardens of Sa Vinyeta, a five-minute walk from the center of Ciutadella, form an incredible open-air space.
Minorca Cathedral
Of all Menorca's stone buildings, Ciutadella Cathedral is certainly the most emblematic. This 14th-century Gothic temple is the festival's only enclosed space. A novelty for Pedra Viva, it could well serve as a more intimate but also more intense venue! A sacred place full of history.
King's Island
Since the prestigious contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth opened a new space on the emblematic Illa del Rei, in the port of Mahon, exhibitions at the cutting edge of the art world have been pouring in. The location is also particularly beautiful: an islet with an ancient heritage built right in the middle of Mahon's natural harbour!
A local festival
Each year, the festival program is unveiled in early May, and tickets for the various shows go on sale online and at a public office that operates every summer in Ciutadella's old town, allowing direct contact between the public and the organizers. This is also one of Pedra Viva's credos: a hand-crafted, artisanal festival with the spectators in mind! The non-profit association that organizes the festival benefits from substantial public and private contributions. Without these sponsorships, the festival wouldn't exist! It is this local support that enables Pedra Viva to remain true to its philosophy, maintain high quality standards and pursue its main objective - a constant quest for beauty.
