El Ajo Festival
Coordinates: 40°20′26.9″N 1°06′17.8″W / 40.340806°N 1.104944°W
| Peña El Ajo Festival | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Electronic dance music · Rock · alternative rock · ska · punk rock · heavy metal · pop · synthpop · reggae · hip hop · indie · world · electronic |
| Dates | July · 7|8|9|10 · 2017 |
| Location(s) | Teruel, Aragon, Spain |
| Years active | 1969, 1975 - present |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Peña El Ajo Festival is a cultural association born in Teruel (Spain), in 1969. It is within the main and the oldest party of the City, "La Vaquilla Del Ángel". This cultural association is in charge of scheduling a music festival[1] which lasts for 4 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday), particularly the weekend closer more to the 10th July. The staff of the association is responsible for planning, coordinating and monitoring the different musical event.[2]
This association creates a diverse environment of music that takes place in the center of the Teruel’s city. As of 2016, it is located in a parking area in Ronda Ambeles.[3] In case it is raining the musical events are covered by a huge tent. Above all, this association is characterized by the great influx of young public from their own city as well as the surrounding provinces.Throughout its 43 year history, it has been singled out by its eclepticism when it has designed the musical schedule.
All performances are free of charge and freely accessible. They play their shows on one stage where there is a variety of musical styles including: electronic music, independent music, mix music, reggae, rock, ska, folk and techno.
In recent years, on its stage people have had the opportunity to see artists such as La Pegatina,[4] La Raiz, Talco, Boikot, La Fuga, Albert Neve, Albel Ramos, JP Candela, Brian Cross, Green Valley, Sak Noel, The Zombie Kids, Gomad!&Monster, Itaca Band, Alamedadosoulna, Always Drinking Marching Band, Dani Moreno,[5] La Banda del Surdo, Sidral Brass Band, Eyes of Providence, Bandarra Street Orkesta, La Sra. Tomasa, Trashtucada, and Pink Puffers.
History
The first meeting place of the association was the stairs of the former municipal market in Domingo Gascón square. The name of “El Ajo” was chosen in order to give a spicier tone to the party.
However, one year after its creation, El Ajo disappeared in 1970 because its partners were students, so they had to leave the city. For this reason, all the bulk of the effort failed as only a few people stayed in Teruel. In spite of the problems, El Ajo was restarted in 1975 by a young group who decided to continue with the organization of the association. They are aged between 15 and 19 years and conequently youth is one of the characteristics of the association. This year the association has 150 partners, when they are located by the town hall in the Cristo Rey Square. El Ajo was the first association which had brass bands and, in 1988, DJ' s and audiovisual montage. The next year, the council ordered them to change location. Finally, in 1977, El Ajo settled for the first time in Amantes Square and remained there until 2005 because the square had to be restored due to its historic importance. The next site was located nearer to where the association is now. Despite the large size of the site, El Ajo was getting more crowded because it was the ideal point where more than 40.000 people like gathering and enjoying the music during four days.
Finally, the council announced that they would have to abandon the site due to the fact that a park was going to be located in this area. Then, they were relocated to the site where the association is located now. They found several problems such as getting the support of the council, finding a supply of electricity and annoying the neighbourhood. As this new site is much bigger, the association has considerably increased the number of partners (800), as well as the public during the performances. Any local person has the opportunity to become a partner and can make a choice of different music proposals.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Teruel, Luis Rajadel. "El Centro Histórico se sumerge en un maratón festivo que durará cuatro días". heraldo.es. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ ""La de Teruel es de las fiestas más heavys que hemos visto a lo largo de nuestra carrera"". www.diariodeteruel.es. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ "Boikot + Talco". Heraldo Ocio. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ Peralta, L. ""Estamos igual de contentos tocando en Teruel que en China o en Japón"". heraldo.es. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ "La pegatina y el DJ Dani Moreno, estrellas de la programación musical de la Peña El Ajo - Eco de Teruel". www.ecodeteruel.tv. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
Bibliography
VICENTE, N.(2010), 50 años de historia de las peñas vaquilleras turolenses (Vol. X): El Ajo | El Agüelo | El Torpedo | El Disfrute
HERNÁNDEZ, C. (1999), La Vaquilla del Ángel, autor-editor, Teruel.
PASCUAL, M. (1999), Estampas vaquilleras de Teruel, Certeza, Zaragoza.
PASCUAL, M. (2002), Vaquilleros del Torico, Certeza, Zaragoza.
VICENTE, N. (2002–2008), Cincuenta años de historia de las peñas taquilleras turolenses, de 1942 a 1992, 6 vol, Aragón Vivo, Teruel.
VICENTE, N. y MARZO, M. (1999), Peña “Los 13”. Su historia y aportación a la Vaquilla, Interpeñas, Teruel.