John Culatto
LOCAL musicians will take the place of international stars this year during National Week after the annual music festival got axed.
The Gibraltar Music Festival will be replaced by a more low-key event being called Friday Night Live.
It will be organised by the producers of the similarly titled show organised by the Ministry of Culture online during the lockdown.
The change of plans comes over concerns about a possible flare-up of COVID-19 or its mutations in September.
“Friday Night Live is one of several events being planned for the autumn with a strong Gibraltarian flavour,” said a Gibraltar Cultural Services spokesperson.
“These events will this year replace the Gibraltar Music Festival.
“The latter will not take place in 2021, in keeping with the Government’s declared cautious approach “The uncertainty of how COVID-19 would develop would not in any case have allowed the length of time necessary to plan the event.”
Friday Night Live is the brainchild of Dion Mifsud and Nolan Frendo.
It brought new and old bands together during the social lockdown, watched by hundreds on the Rock and across the world.
The Friday Night Live concept will now move to a live setting for the National Week celebrations.
Minister for Culture John Cortes said: “Friday Night Live is a great example of how music has the power to unite.
“With this face-to-face event, COVID-19 regulations permitting, it is important to recognise all those artists who gave of their time and talent to contribute to this innovative and worthy project.
“We believe in supporting local talent and this is one of the mains aims of this event.”
Art galore
From March 17, modern artists will be getting a look-in at the GADA gallery as part of the Kitchen Studios project.
“Newcomers include make-up artist Nyree Chipolina with some ink art, Kaylan Escamez with graphic design work and Mark Rodriguez with a photography installation,” said a GCS spokesperson.
“The space has once again been transformed, with further installation works by Tina Rodriguez, a soundscape by Lizanne Figueras, and a sustainable interactive piece by Ermelinda Duarte.
“The artists’ inspiration is varied and includes mandala art, church bells and the use of upcycled material.”
More traditional artists are being invited to send digital copies of their work in so they can be submitted to the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
The world famous competition has already seen a few Gibraltarians qualify past the first round.
The deadline for entries is May 24, with the government helping locals send their work to UK.
For those who just want to see art, the Mario Finlayson National Art Gallery has been recently refurbished.
The news comes as the Ministry of Culture launched a new flashy website.
It includes all the events and organisations connected with it as well as a lot of other links to make it user-friendly for the public.
