Reasons and some ‘millennial’ excuses to go to the SON Estrella Galicia Posidonia festival | Culture

At 40, and in the best of cases, life puts you in a situation of maximums. This is the most I can spend, the most I’m going to lose weight, the most I’m going to last. But also minimums. Minimum, one getaway a year, a meeting with friends, a tribute to the senses. The SON Estrella Galicia Posidonia festival, which celebrated its eighth edition on the Balearic island of Formentera last weekend, was filled with millennials looking for a minimal escape from a demanding job, a minimal excuse to kiss the children goodnight and escape to the Pitiusas in October. As if it were a summer camp for adults, they arrived fleeing their routine to enjoy a privileged natural environment and a powerful gastronomic and musical offer.

The festival also has a peculiarity since the year it was founded, in 2017: its lineup is secret. The 350 people who sell out tickets within two hours of going on sale pay 390 euros per ticket. ticket without knowing the event schedule in advance. Another peculiarity is that many repeat. In a context of skyrocketing concert tickets, paying a large amount of money without knowing who you are going to see can seem, at the very least, risky. Is it worth it?

The answer becomes evident after some talk with those attending the festival. Many have been supporting the event since the first edition and have even forged friendships that meet again there every year. For Eva and Fede this has been the fourth time. She is a chemist, he works in advertising and, although they live in Madrid, they are so in love with Formentera that they chose it to celebrate their wedding a while ago. For them, the beauty and possibilities of the island are the main attraction for attending SON Estrella Galicia Posidonia, although they warn: “This is not a music festival.”

An anti-festival

This is “an anti-festival for non-conformists.” These are the words of Víctor Mantiñan, its director, who, standing on stage, welcomes all the attendees and the people of the Formentera town of Sant Ferran, about to enjoy the Friday night concerts in the church square. It is easy to recognize the first ones by the festival bracelet; The locals don’t need it, for them it’s a free concert. It seems like a risky idea, but it turns out well in the end. The harmony is total and everyone dances and smiles, first with the enjoyable electropop of the German Roosevelt and then with the roots music of the Galician Baiuca, in addition to the opening and closing sessions of DJ Marco Holtman. At 1 in the morning everything is over, the next day the early-bird festival has three natural routes prepared through the heart of the island.

With more or less hangover, divided into groups that determine the route and other surprises, on Saturday morning the attendees parade, guided by biologists from the area, to a corner of nature where a concert awaits them: the music of Tulsa, Júlia Colom or Violeta Veinte (depending on each route) merges with the landscape in a beautiful communion. After the different walks, the gastronomy of several nearby restaurants is added to the open beer bar. It is about highlight the attractions of the island and to collaborate with agents in the area. Not in vain, the festival is the largest contributor to the Save Posidonia project, aimed at protecting the Posidonia Oceanica.

The next stop will be at sunset. In front of the beach, in the gardens of the Gecko hotel, the pleasant fusion of sounds of the Nubiyan Twist music collective plays and the public queues to taste the bluefin tuna tartare or the saam (crispy lettuce base) of suckling pig by Valencian Vicky Sevilla, the youngest Spanish chef to achieve a Michelin star in 2022. A couple of hours later, when the Kenyan musician Kabeaushé unleashes his power at just over 300 people gathered in front of the stage, the tastings have given way to croquettes and sobrasada toasts with honey, which no one is disgusted with. There is very little left for the really strong dish of the night: David and Stephen Dewaele, in their role as 2manydjs, position themselves behind the mixing console to account for a couple of tangerines and DJ, among other songs of a particularly generous session , he sponge cake by Rosalía.

And what about going blind?

There are just a few minutes left before the security personnel begin to clear the garden of the Gecko Hotel and the groups begin to organize to continue the party on the beach or reach the last bar that closes on the island. The need for the weekend not to end (on Sunday the festival will continue in a daytime format) is imperative. “Where do we buy ice?” “Will you bring the car closer?” In the midst of the turmoil, Jony remains very calm. He works at a media agency and has been coming to the festival since the first edition. It has been infecting many friends, who from Madrid, Valladolid or León travel to Formentera every year and do not miss the event. When asked why he attends a festival without knowing the poster, he assures that it is all because of the brand behind it: “It is a guarantee of good music. How many times have I spent a lot of money at any BBK or Sonorama to see the same groups over and over again?

Between stay, travel and entry, a trip to the festival can cost approximately 1,200 euros per head. If we take into account that attending Primavera Sound in Barcelona costs about 200 euros and between 350 and 500 for accommodation; that the subscription for the FIB in Benicasim is more than 100 euros, and that in neither of these two events will the Dewaele brothers be seen playing for the capacity of a large wedding, the Formentera plan is attractive for those who can afford it.

In a meeting with the press who attended this eighth edition of SON Estrella Galicia Posidonia, Mantiñan defended that in the beginning they did not want to depend on announcing one artist or another to sell tickets: “It seemed to me that we were getting into a loop that was only going to generate costs and disappointments.” Curated by music experts from the promoter Sinsalaudiothe festival aims to continue with its philosophy of surprising the public without too many concessions. Because it is true that, as Mantiñan says: “With music, no one loses.”