The Granada International Festival of Music & Dance is one of the most prestigious music festivals in Europe, with more than half a century of history behind it and the involvement of some of the leading names in classical music and dance. Renowned for the beauty of its settings, which makes extensive use of the Alhambra, the city’s landmark monument, the Festival’s success is also down to an imaginative direction and the commitment of performers of the like of Daniel Barenboim, Vladímir Áshkenazi and Montserrat Caballé, and companies such as the Berlin Staatskapelle, The Royal Ballet and the Spanish National Orchestra.
The balmy nights of early July are perfect for the open-air concerts, held in the privileged setting of the Moorish and Castilian palaces and gardens of the Alhambra; the sound of cicadas and the scent of jasmine and myrtle providing an evocative backdrop to some outstanding music and dance.
Each year’s programme is centred on a given theme and combines orchestral and chamber music, as well as ancient and contemporary world music, with ballet, modern dance and flamenco — and features an impressive array of Spanish and international talent. In addition to the signature night-time concerts in the Alhambra, there are events taking place during the day and an excellent side festival, the FEX, offering free concerts in venues which, again, use to full effect the city’s wealth of historical monuments including the Cathedral, the Royal Chapel, the Monastery of San Jeronimo, the Abbey of Sacromonte, the Carthusian Monastery, the Royal Chancellery, the Casa de Castril, the Casa de los Tiros and many churches and contemporary buildings.
The Festival is, for all these reasons, understandably popular and has in practically all past editions sold out – the strong local support being increasingly supplemented by foreign visitors who have learnt about the Festival through the national and international media and, in particular, the radio transmissions of Spanish national broadcaster RNE on Radio Clásica.
For details of this year’s Festival, which takes place in 2015 between June 19 and July 10, please visit the website of the Granada International Festival of Music & Dance. If you would like to include events in the Festival in your travel itinerary or indeed make this the focal point of a tour please do contact us, as we are well placed to arrange this for you.