Today starts the Andanças festival that will leave Castelo de Vide in a “living circle”

Concerts, dances, workshops, performance and theater are attractions of the 23rd Andanças Festival, which starts today in Castelo de Vide (Portalegre), with a program full of dance and music until Sunday.

Promoted by PédeXumbo – Association for the Promotion of Music and Dance, the event takes place in the vicinity of the seat of Alentejo county, in an enclosure near the Fort of San Roque, as happened in last year’s edition.

Before, the festival took place on the banks of the Póvoa e Meadas reservoir, also in the municipality of Castelo de Vide, but the change of venue took place after the fire in the 2016 edition that destroyed more than 400 cars that were in a parking lot .

Marta Guerreiro, responsible for artistic coordination and project management at PédeXumbo, said that “it is impossible” to put “behind the scenes” the fire that occurred two years ago, but said she hoped that this 23rd edition would have “a great energy” .

“Roda Vida” is the theme of this year’s program, which is divided between eight stages, during five days of dance, music, sharing and party, in which the organization expects the affluence of around 20 thousand people.

Concerts, dance workshops, dances, activities for children and families, performance and theater, personal development, street animation, instrument workshops and walks are the main “ingredients” of Andanças.

The organization’s invitation is to “dance the world”, with workshops and dances that promise to “travel” the participants “to the rhythm of steps and bars” of dances of the world and of Portugal.

In representation of the national territory, there are “minhotos viras until the calls of the Azores, passing dances of the Alentejo, like the waltzes sent, or the fandangos of Extremadura,” summed up the person in charge of the organization.

In addition, the “voyage” encompasses dances from Europe, on an “itinerary” by Spain, Belgium, Italy, France, Romania or Bulgaria, but also African rhythms (kizomba, semba and funaná), Latin America salsa, tango), North America (swing, lindy-hop and balb), Middle East or India (bollywwod).

Greek Classical Antiquities and Sacred Circular Dances workshops are another of the programming proposals, in which the public “leaves the stance of spectator and participates, learning,” the organization said.

The Andanças “roda roda” also extends to the very town of Castelo de Vide, where are scheduled various activities, such as workshops and workshops, to promote interaction with the local community.

The fire of 2016, on 03 August, appeared in one of the car parks and, in less than three hours, total or partially reached 458 vehicles.

In February 2017, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) closed the investigation in the case, for failing to find out the specific circumstances in which the fire occurred, but already this month, the lawyer on behalf of the victims filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court and Fiscal de Castelo Branco to demand compensation of 831 thousand euros.

In statements, PédeXumbo, the chamber and the insurer of the Crédito Agrícola group, referred to in this lawsuit, were “serene” about the process.