From 17 to 20 September, Gata de Gorgos will become a meeting point for music, innovation, territory and contemporary creation.
Following the Gata’m concert series held over the summer, the collective now presents Gata’m Fest: four days devoted to music and innovation.
From 17 to 20 September, Gata de Gorgos will become a meeting point for emerging talent from the Marina Alta and beyond, with a concert for tractors and an exhibition on posidonia among many other activities.
Rather than a conventional music festival, Gata’m Fest explores the connections between music, technology, heritage and the landscape of the Marina Alta, bringing together contemporary creation and local traditions.
The programme opens on Thursday 17 September with the festival’s inauguration at 7:30 pm, followed by a welcome reception at the Guillem Agulló building.
At around 8:00 pm the first session of the exhibition “Memòries d’aigua: Listening to the Posidonia” will take place. Created by artists Marina Mulet, Aina Zanoguera, Kim Taylor and Alba Vega Mulet, the exhibition is presented in scheduled sessions with limited capacity, and can also be visited on the other festival days at 7:00 pm and 7:30 pm at the same venue.
Advance registration through the festival website is recommended. On Friday 18 September at 8:00 pm, the Plaça de l’Església in Gata will host “Ressonàncies de la Terra – Concert for Tractors and Percussion”, a unique open-air performance in which tractors, trailers, steel plates and scrap metal become instruments, performing live alongside the percussion ensemble Connecta Percussió in a composition by Pablo Andrés.
A monumental soundscape born of the rural world, part of the festival’s “Arrapasons” strand. Saturday 19 September is one of the fullest days of the festival.
It begins with percussion masterclasses aimed at nurturing the region’s young talent: at 10:00 am, the Orchestral Percussion Masterclass at the Guillem Agulló building with percussionist and teacher Guillem Serrano, followed at 12:00 pm by the Latin Percussion Masterclass with percussionists Nazari and Adrià Ribes. In the afternoon, at 5:30 pm, the mass gathering “Drums on Tour” takes place at Les Sorts park (Enric Valor).
Drummers from the Marina Alta and beyond are invited to bring their own drum kit and, at 7:30 pm, join a collective concert that participants will not forget. In the evening, the 2027 festivities committee will serve dinner. At 12:30 am, the Gata’m Glitch audiovisual contest will be held, a showcase of digital and audiovisual creation with a €500 prize awarded as a commission for next year’s edition. The festival closes on Sunday 20 September with “Gata Camina”, a musical heritage walk through Gata.
Rosario Caselles (guitar) and Celia Pedrós (flute) will provide live music along a morning route guided by local historian Miguel Vives, who will tell the story of the places visited, from the Ermita to the Caseta de la Lepra, before the walk ends at Placeta Tetuán with the closing concert.
About Gata’m Gata’m is an initiative led by a collective of young musicians from the Marina Alta. It was created as a space where the region’s cultural heritage meets contemporary creation, technology and international exchange. More information: gatamfest.com
