The biggest national concertina players meeting this year will be online
This year, the 19th National Meeting of Barrenta Concertina Players, will take place in a different format, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This initiative usually takes place on the last Saturday of September, since 2001, and brings hundreds of concertina players from all over the country to the small village of Barrenta, Porto de Mós. This year, all of these groups were invited to participate in a meeting that will take place online, and will be broadcast on social networks, thus marking this day in a special way.
Barrenta ComVIDA, 19th National Meeting of Concertina Players Online, will not only divulge all the groups that participate and the culture that encompasses the concertina, and that in these pandemic times have not had the opportunity to show their commitment and dedication , but also to make known the region and many of its attractive points especially when it comes to Serra de Aire.
A hypothesis is being analyzed to reach the neighboring villages, in person, but without jeopardizing the security that the circumstances demand. In due time this musical moment will be released.
This initiative promises to connect hundreds of players and their groups through their places to the small village in Serra de Aire, in complete safety, avoiding the usual crowds that move there.
The times and circumstances that the world is going through are very particular, and have implications in all areas of daily life.
The Barrenta Cultural Center was no exception. For almost 3 months, the doors were closed, and all initiatives on the 2020 agenda were canceled / postponed. In this phase of lack of definition, the tests were also resumed in new formats, complying with the rules required by the General Health Directorate.
This small place, in the União das Freguesia de Alvados and Alcaria, has about 38 inhabitants, and in 2019 it welcomed more than 500 concertina players and thousands of visitors.
The first meeting was in 2001 and involved about 40 players, with the aim of being able to “give life” to a village that would itself disappear over the years if nothing was done to have some visibility.
In a region that brings together 100 counties, places with history, legends, customs and traditions, where it is possible to discover the essence of a country, this event is undoubtedly a landmark that perpetuates one of the most typical instruments of popular culture. This year in an innovative way, promising to stay in history with an initiative never done before.
