The city of Madrid is bringing back the joy of its Veranos de la Villa festival, organised by Madrid City Council's Area of Culture, Tourism and Sport. The festival is bringing the finest national and international cultural offerings to numerous venues around the city from 5 July to 28 August, with artists and creators sharing their latest work with the public. Madrid's mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has presented the 38th Veranos de la Villa festival, together with the Councillor for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Andrea Levy, and the director of the festival, Ángel Murcia.

The presentation took place in the Espacio Abierto Quinta de los Molinos in the presence of many artists whose work can be seen during the two months of the festival in some 22 venues around the city. Those contributing to the diverse and participative programme—in which 50% of the activities will be free—include Carmen París (who played En mi pecho and Savia nueva on the piano during the presentation) Mario de la Rosa, Aroa Martínez, Wolfrank Zannou, Antonio Najarro, Wilbur and Gema Scabal. This is a festival for everyone in Madrid and all its visitors.

The programme includes over 70 national and international shows—with artists from Uruguay, Austria, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Germany, India, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Italy, Peru, Morocco and South Korea. It will bring together artists and audiences of all generations, with a programme featuring music, performing arts, circus, art and poetry among the wide range of cultural offerings for all ages.

The festival returns to the streets

The festival is bringing its cultural and leisure activities back to the city's streets. The Veranos de la Villa festival will be launched in the refurbished Plaza de España on 5 July, making the activities accessible to as many people as possible.

The programme will be kicked off by Lúmen · uma história de amor (Lumen, a love story), a large, free show in the open air by the Portuguese company S.A. Marionetas—Teatro & Bonecos, one of the leaders in contemporary European puppet theatre, in collaboration with Portugal’s Ministry of Culture.

The stars of this performance will be a group of massive puppets who will begin their journey in Plaza de Isabel II and pass through places such as Plaza de Oriente to finish in the refurbished Plaza de España, the meeting place for Madrileños and visitors alike. Lúmen features around 50 participants, who will fill the city night with light and sound, through a narrative of movement and music in which everyone who is there will be involved.

The programme continues in Plaza de España on 7 July with Roulettes et Violoncelle by the company Le Patin Libre. This is a modern dance performance accompanied by the hypnotic sound of the cello. The show is presented in collaboration with the Canadian embassy. Immediately afterwards in the same location, the Veranos de la Villa festival kicks off the summer street party season with a novel event in which the traditional dance floor where people dance “cheek to cheek” is turned into a huge roller-skating rink, with El cuerpo del Disco as masters of ceremony. This Roller Street Party is part of the Madrid Pride 2022 programme.

This first weekend of the festival will be followed by two months of music, performing arts, circus, exhibitions and poetry, which will climax in another of the city’s iconic open-air locations, the Retiro park’s Estanque Grande lake. On Sunday 28 August, the festival will bring the summer to a close with a special activity for all ages. In this Benlliure Year, celebrating the 160th anniversary of the sculptor’s birth, his statue of Alfonso XII in the Retiro will be transformed into the stage for the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España  to perform Carmina Burana by Carl Orff (1895-1982), one of the landmarks in Western music, in a staging tailored to the setting.

The sounds of the Veranos de la Villa festival

The Condeduque Cultural Centre will once again be the setting for the finest in music and one of the main venues for the festival, hosting twenty four of its cultural activities. The 2022 musical programme will open in its Central Courtyard with a performance by a grande dame of French song, Jane Birkin. In Oh! Pardon tu dormais… – El concert (17 July), this icon of chanson française will perform some new songs and others she created 20 years ago, produced by the musician, composer, actor and performer Étienne Daho. She will be supported by Blanca Paloma, one of the most unique voices in Spanish music, whose songs embrace and intermix flamenco, electronica and poetry.

On 22 July, there is a special opportunity to hear the Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid perform María de Buenos Aires, conducted by Jan Corber. This is the Veranos de la Villa festival’s tribute to the inimitable Argentinian accordionist and composer Astor Piazzolla, through an opera-tango featuring the soprano Gema Scabal.

On 23 July, Quique González will present his new release, Sur en el valle (South in the Valley). Respected by critics and public alike—few artists have such a loyal fanbase—this Madrid artist is returning with a new batch of songs he nurtured in the Valles Pasiegos.

Twice nominated for the Latin Grammy awards for Best Flamenco Album, María López Tristancho –known artistically as Argentina– will be performing La vida del artista (The life of the artist) on 31 July, a show examining the day-to-day life of an artist through flamenco, the world of “sevillanas”, song, theatre and classical music.

The flamenco jazz of Martirio, the Atlantic voice of Uxía, the strength of Carmen París and the poetic originality of Ugía Pedreira will come together on 2 August to celebrate their artistic maturity in Enredadas (Entangled), a project created to promote, foster and spread art as a meeting, bringing together the knowledge and experience of these singers who reinterpret traditional forms such as “copla”, “jota” and “alalás”.

The Uruguayan band No te va gustar—one of the most well-known rock bands in Spanish in Latin America—will be performing on 7 August. The concert will feature hits such as No era cierto, No hay dolor, A las nueve and Cero a la izquierda. They will be supported by the group Durden from nearby Malasaña, featuring the TV presenter Diego Losada.

Once again, new groups will be taking over Condeduque's Central Courtyard, on 18 August. The third Sounds in the Courtyard festival will feature performances by Interrogación Amor, Jordana, Baywaves and Salto, reflecting the effervescence of Madrid's scene. On 19 August, Alizzz will present Tiene que haber algo más (There Has to be Something More), an ambitious post-indie project with chiming guitars and production brimming with razor-sharp ideas.  The evening will be opened by Judeline.

When the heat is overwhelming and the thermometer never takes a break, there is no better way of spending a night than dancing to songs that everyone knows. On 20 August, the Veranos de la Villa festival will be hosting a huge fiesta where a range of artists will pay homage to some of the world's great female musical icons, such as Raffaela Carrá, Lola Flores, Dua Lipa and Beyoncé.

 Algo inesperado (Something Unexpected) will be back again on 21 August. Over the past four years, this event has become a tradition that we are keen to continue and see take root in Madrid's summer heatwave. It involves a concert by an artist whose name will only be revealed when they walk out onto the stage, as was the case in previous years with Vetusta Morla, Morgan, María José Llergo and Carolina Durante.

Music will feature at many other festival locations in addition to the Central Courtyard at Condeduque. On 4 August, the Palace of the Carlos de Amberes Foundation will be hosting  Músicas para un rey / VIII Centenario nacimiento Alfonso X el Sabio (Music for a King / 8th Centenary of the birth of Alfonso X the Wise) by Artefactum, one of the leading groups specialising in Spanish music from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. This group from Seville had the honour of providing the musical finale to the celebrations held to mark Spain Day at the Universal Expo in Dubai, and is now coming to the Veranos de la Villa festival thanks to Acción Cultural Española.

On 21 August, Verde Prato, in collaboration with Etxepare Euskal Institutua, and Maestro Prada will be rekindling traditional Basque music, taking it to unexpected and, therefore, surprising and exciting heights. This double header will take place in the Claustro del Pozo at the Instituto San Isidro. Two days later, on the 23rd, this location will host the German composer, artist and software developer Robert Henke, who will present his show Dust showcasing ambient electronic music based on granular synthesis, which unfolds in the dark through numerous speakers set up amongst the audience.

Performing arts: from the Spanish Golden Age to the latest trends

On 21 and 22 July, the narrator Yoshi Hioki and Japanese harp (koto) player Chisa Majima will perform Cuentos y leyendas de Japón (Stories and legends of Japan) at the Teatro Español, fusing storytelling and ancestral music for adults staged especially for the Veranos de Villa festival, in collaboration with the Japanese Embassy in Spain and the Japan Foundation. It will be the turn of the kids on 23 and 24 July, when these two artists narrate traditional Japanese stories for all ages in Mukashi, mukashi.

Actors behind a box theatre 'interpreting' William Shakespeare’s plays condensed into just 8 minutes? Welcome to Micro-Shakespeare, a weird and wonderful approach to the work of the English playwright by Laitrum Teatre, in which the actors receive instructions through headphones and move the objects around in the box following instructions but without knowing why they’re doing what they’re doing. This will take place on 23 and 24 July at the Espacio Abierto Quinta de los Molinos.

Madrid's Metatarso Producciones is coming to Condeduque on 3 and 4 August with La realidad (Reality), by Darío Facal and Pedro Cantalejo. This show is a modern-day cabinet of wonders that discusses social media, young people, abysmal histories, ramifications, rhizomes, perspectives… a polyphonic stage event in which the factual and the fictitious, the past, the present and the future coexist.

The Condeduque Cultural Centre will also host The Infernal Comedy · Confesiones de un asesino en serie (Confessions of a serial killer) on 11 and 12 August. The famous American actor John Malkovich will visit the Veranos de la Villa festival to present this drama based on the true story of the murderer Jack Unterweger (1950-1994), which he direct and acts in. The performance features an actor, two sopranos and an orchestra  Malkovich brings to life this serial killer who, in a surprising and poetic twist, decided to leave a written confession. What makes this work so special is its staging, which features a string orchestra playing Baroque music and two soprano soloists, all immersed in the task of playing and singing pieces by great composers such as Mozart, Gluck, Haydn, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Weber and Beethoven.

On 16 and 17 August, the Instituto de Educación Secundaria San Isidro's Claustro del Pozo will celebrate the Nobel Laureate José Saramago. To mark the centenary of his birth, the programme is presenting Saramago and company, a poetry recital by José Luis Gómez, actor, stage director and numbered member of the Royal Spanish Academy, in honour and remembrance of the unforgettable Portuguese writer.

On 18 July, the multi-instrumentalist Wolfrank Zannou, prima ballerina of the Spanish National Ballet Inmaculada Salmón and actor and writer Mario de la Rosa will present Trivium in the same venue. This is a performance created ad hoc for the Veranos de la Villa festival.  Atmosphere, plasticity and introspection are combined in this live show to immerse the audience in a journey where each spectator will feel the embrace of music, the caress of dance and the wounds of poetry.

The Claustro del Pozo programme finishes on 25, 26 and 27 August with Lope y sus Doroteas or Cuando Lope quiere, quiere (Lope and his Doroteas or When Lope wants to, he wants to), with words by Ainhoa Amestoy directed by Ignacio Amestoy. Lope and his Doroteas addresses life, death, love, matchmaking, the generational shift, creative work and the cultural panorama of the 17th century.

La Sub25 (Under 25s). The festival of young talent of Madrid

‘Sub25’ is Madrid’s festival bringing together established and emerging young artists who are under 25. Following the success of the first edition, the 2022 edition is geared towards urban culture and will take place on 15, 16 and 17 July in and around the Madrid Río Park (Black Esplanade, Nave de Terneras and the Skate Park). Over three days, La Sub25 will feature activities such as concerts, master classes, training activities, exhibitions, audience-participation and the national final of the BDM free style competition Anier, Dora, Sara Socas, DJ LadyFunk, Jexer, MDA, Afrojuice, Erika Dosantos, Compañía Carampa, [los números imaginarios], 6ullet, Fectro, Las Dianas, Ly Raine and DosXCuatro are some of the artists who will be showcasing their talent at La Sub25.

Zarzuela: keeps its appointment with the Veranos de la Villa festival

The Veranos de la Villa festival has always promoted the rediscovery and popularisation of zarzuela, Spain’s traditional light opera. The great composers and writers of Spain’s operatic heritage (from Amadeo Vives, Pablo Sorozábal and Federico Chueca to Ruperto Chapí and Manuel Fernández Caballero) have graced its 38 year history. In 2022, our iconic festival is keeping its appointment with this operatic genre that is so much a part of Madrid.

The long-running Compañía Teatral Clásicos de la Lírica, which was created in Madrid, will be presenting a new version of La Revoltosa  (The Troublemaker), coinciding with the 125th anniversary of its première in Madrid. The performances will take place in the Central Courtyard of the Condeduque Cultural Centre on 4, 5 and 6 August. The music of maestro Ruperto Chapí and the lyrics of José López Silva and Carlos Fernández Shaw will ring out once again in a revival of one of the masterpieces of Spanish light opera, in which the highbrow and the popular go hand in hand as never before.

A few days later, on 19 and 20 August, the Instituto San Isidro's Claustro del Pozo will host the tenor and director Enrique Viana with his performance ¡Sereno!… Ábreme la zarzuela (Night watchman! Open the Zarzuela for me!). Accompanied by the pianist Miguel Huertas, he will run through classics of the genre, with fragments by Torroba, Sorozábal, Alonso, Serrano, Moraleda and Bretón, among other, in a homage to the sereno (night watchman) who is such a recurring character in the farces of Spain’s lyrical theatre.

Dance at the festival

This year's Veranos de la Villa festival continues its strong connection with dance. The programme at Condeduque's Central Courtyard will open with the company of the former director of the Ballet Nacional de España (14, 15 and 16 July). Querencia (Fondness), the new show by Antonio Najarro, with 16 dancers on the stage, explores the essence of Spanish dance, with foot stamping, castanets, capes, bata de cola dresses, Manila shawls and Cordoban hats. The original music will be performed by the Orquesta de Extremadura, conducted by its manager and artistic director Andrés Salado, with the support of the Junta de Extremadura council as a sponsor of the Veranos de la Villa festival.

Cuba's most important dance company, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, will soon be in town (Condeduque Cultural Centre, 20 and 21 July), determined to get the city moving to the rhythms of cha cha cha, mambo, rumba, conga and bolero. With more than 30 artists on stage, ¡Cuba vibra!, one of her most celebrated creations, transports us to some of the most beautiful spots on the island through the rhythm of its music and dance.

The international influence continues with the visit of the Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger and Maroussia Diaz Verbèke (Condeduque, 26 and 27 July). FIQ (¡Despierta!) (Wake up!) is the most recent venture by this group founded in 2003, which specialises in presenting acrobatics, one of the great manifestations of Moroccan popular culture, in contemporary language. This is a show bursting with the light, energy and dynamism of fifteen talented young acrobats, set against scratching by DJ Key, all within the visual world of Hassan Hajjaj, a well-known artist and photographer known as the Moroccan Andy Warhol.

On 27 and  28 July, Jonas&Lander from Portugal, who explore the fusion between different performing arts, will be presenting their latest creation Bate Fado, a hybrid between dance and a concert designed for nine performers that seeks to be the first step in recovering the dance that has been lost from Portugal's fado tradition. In collaboration with the Instituto Camões and the Portuguese Embassy in Spain.

Young creative talent from Madrid will be represented by the company of the dancer and choreographer Sergio Bernal and Ser, combining flamenco, classical ballet and contemporary dance, which is coming to Condeduque on 29 and 30 July.

In Bollywood. The Show, a cast of top-class dancers led by the prestigious choreographer, actor and dancer Sunny Singh will transport the audience to an India at its most mystical, in an 80-minute journey that celebrates the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence, in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Spain. This show has no dialogue and is intended for everyone. It features more than 300 costumes, hypnotic dances, acrobatics and fast-paced rhythms that will immerse the spectator in the magical world of Indian culture. The performances will take place at Condeduque on 13 and 14 August.

On  25 and 26 August, Condeduque will host Mulïer, a dance show on stilts performed by the company Maduixa, which featured in the cultural programme of the Spanish Pavilion at Expo Dubai. This is a tribute to all those women who assert their right to dance and walk freely through our streets and squares. In collaboration with Acción Cultural Española.

Circus: the tradition continues

Continuing Madrid’s circus tradition, which dates back to the 19th century, this year’s festival programme features a range of circus activities for all ages in the streets and at several locations around the city.

Tiritirantes, which featured in the programme of the Spanish Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020, will take to the streets on 9 and 10 July (Plaza Centro Cultural Pozo del tío Raimundo and Avenida de Arcentales, next to the Parque El Paraíso Auditorium) to delight kids of all ages with Ulterior el Viaje (Beyond the Journey), a show in which three friendly dinosaurs surprise us along with their eccentric handler. In collaboration with Acción Cultural Española.

On 12 and 13 July, Los Galindos, winner of the 2016 National Culture Award, will present MDR - Muerto de risa (Dying of Laughter) at the Teatro Circo Price. This is a circus show for adults in which a clown, as an on-stage character and as an inhabitant of the circus, reflects on the arbitrary nature of our existence. In collaboration with Teatro Circo Price.

On 22 and 23 July, Madrid's Conejo Salvaje will present their first creation, La casa de los dedos (The House of the Fingers), at Naves del Español en Matadero. La casa de los dedos is the name of the caravan in which this show combining the musical, circus and clown routines takes us on a journey into the surprising and extraordinary world of the occult.

Giant puppets operated from inside and outsize toys, dance from Kukai Dantza, aerial silk acrobatics, the double trapeze of the Berdinki company, and Xabier Larrea and Gorka Pereira’s juggling and acrobatic swinging all come together in Xarma, a multidisciplinary show Oreka TX is premièring in Madrid with Txalapart ART, in collaboration with Etxepare Euskal Institutua, as part of the Veranos de la Villa festival programme. This is a unique large-scale show for audiences of all ages in the Central Courtyard of the Condeduque Centre for Contemporary Culture (24 July) that seeks to reawaken the “boys and girls we still are inside”, to rekindle the sense of magic we have lost over the years,

Fuego Salvaje (Wild Fire) is more than a name; it is an attitude. With a sensibility that is just as risky as any extreme sport, Wilbur—an actor from Madrid known for his viral videos on social media—opens his heart to present a real and overwhelming story to us (Condeduque, 10 and 11 August). An invitation to look at ourselves in the mirror of the pathetic and to accept that we’re not that good looking, not that skinny, not that fat, not that smart, not that normal…  

Magic in the Juan March Foundation

The magic collection of the Library of the Juan March Foundation is based on the 1988 donation of the personal library of the engineer and founder of Madrid’s Magic School José Puchol Montís. The only conditions for the donation was that it should be updated regularly and that magicians should have a space to open the books and practise their contents.

Faithful to these wishes, the Veranos de la Villa festival will convert the Juan March Foundation into a showcase for magic, with activities for all ages to get to know the genre as it is today and its major specialities—close-up magic, stage magic, card tricks and major illusions—in a co-production with the Foundation, from 7 to 10 July.

The Magia a ojos vistas (Magic in plain sight) programme will open on 7 July with the exhibition De magia ritual a arte escénico (From ritual magic to the performing arts), an introduction to the Juan March Foundation's La Biblioteca de Ilusionismo (Library of Magic), which holds 2,200 volumes and 50 specialist journals, making it the most complete in Spain and one of the most interesting anywhere in the world. On the same day, Juan Tamariz will present Por arte de magia (As if by magic), a conference-performance on magic as an art, in the Foundation’s Auditorium. The first day of the cycle closes with Open-air cinema: Magia y maleficio de lo imaginario (I) (Magic and the Curse of the Imaginary (I)) in the Sculpture Courtyard, and a screening of Faust by F.W. Murnau.

On 8 July, the Juan March Foundation will reveal an unusual and hitherto unknown case: the disappearance of its Library of Magic for three minutes. The video essay 07:07:22 will reveal everything it has been possible to discover about this supernatural event and tells its story, among tricks, live music and explanations by the expert Ramón Mayrata. There will also be a new session of Open-air cinema: Magia y maleficio de lo imaginario (Magic and the Curse of the Imaginary) with the classic Vampyr by Carl Dreyer.

On 9 July, three of the leading figures in the world of magic in Spain (Miguel Muñoz, Jaime Figueroa and Kiko Pastur) will present Ilusión total (Total illusion), a function created exclusively for this festival, which will present winning illusions from international competitions. On the same day, in El cazador de imágenes (The Image Hunter), the illusionist, shadow sculptor and lantern artist Sergi Buka will invite us on a journey into the mysteries of the magic lantern to rediscover an important part of the history of magic, photography and film.                                                                                                                                          

On 10 July, it is the turn of the magician, actress and performer Lola Mento, with Lolamentando, a performance featuring magic, humour and improvisation for little kids and the whole family. The Magia a ojos vistas (Magic in Plain Sight) cycle ends on that day with Magia (muy) de cerca (Magic (really) close-up), with Inés la Maga and Paco González. Two of the world’s leading illusionists will present a selection of magic tricks for small, close-up audiences in alternating sessions.

A summer of art in tribute to Ouka Leele

Madrid City Council commissioned Ouka Leele (real name Bárbara Allende) to make the poster for the 1996 Veranos de la Villa festival. A terrace, a girl (her daughter, María), a couple having a siesta, a lot of fruit and, as a backdrop, the city’s skyline… For many people, this affectionate portrait became one of the most iconic images in the prolific career of this photographer and painter from Madrid. Twenty-six years later, we are paying tribute following her recent death by reusing her original poster as the image of the festival.

The illustrator Borja Bonafuente (Madrid, 1978) has created a contemporary version of that legendary poster, now painted in oil on canvas in a hyper-realist style. This painting presents Bárbara Allende's daughter, María Rosenfeldt, portrayed in the same way as in the photograph by her mother, with the same decoration of grapes and vine leaves, and the iconic colours used by the creator. The skyline of Madrid, with its rooftops and emblematic buildings continues Ouka Leele's horizon from the roof of the central Barceló market with photography by Álvaro López del Cerro. The use of lemons is a nod to the artists 1978-1979 Peluquería (Hairdresser's) series.

As usual, some of the activities in the Veranos de la Villa festival focus on the most cutting-edge art. In the first of these, the Swiss artist Martin Zimmermann will première Eins Zwei Drei in Madrid. This is a contemporary version of a trio of clowns, setting them at the opening of an ultramodern museum that provides a framework and context for their incessant mischief. This piece combines circus, dance and avant garde art. It will be presented on 15 and 16 July in the Naves del Español en Matadero, in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in Spain.

The exhibition Robotizzati. Experimentos de Moda Italiana (Robotics. Experiments in Italian Fashion) traces the influence of the Japanese culture of robots in fashion, celebrating the deep links between science, technology and creativity. It will be installed in the Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga (The Belgian Sawmill) from 8 July to 28 August, in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Culture in Madrid. The exhibition comprises iconic garments by leading fashion designers, with clothes that “come to life” and automated manikins.

The Palace of the Carlos de Amberes Foundation provides from 20 July to 7 August an ideal setting in which to showcase work by these talented Peruvian artists with the invaluable support of Spanish galleries that are contributing to the success and international visibility of these magnificent creators in the exhibition 12+ 10: Arte contemporary del Perú (Contemporary art from Peru), in collaboration with the Peruvian embassy.

Maña (Condeduque, 16 and 17 August) from the winner of the 2021 National Circus Award, Manolo Alcántara, is halfway between an art installation and a performance. The creator choreographs an everyday action to transform it into the show itself, with crafts playing an essential role, combining poetry, balance and heritage.

Finally, Plaza A de Matadero Madrid will host Muljil (17, 18 and 19 August) by the Korean collective Elephants Laugh. This is a performance that will draw in local communities to become part of it, exploring social issues in order to encourage the audience to reflect on how they perceive themselves and the limits of our society. With the collaboration of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

Summer cinema

The festival will also feature films, with the Parque de la Bombilla as the setting. The Cine caliente (Hot Movies) cycle curated by La Juan Gallery is back following its success last time, with a new selection of well-known films (Marisol Rumbo a Río (Marisol Road to Rio), Kika, Dirty Dancing, Saw, Zoolander and Legally blonde) which will be regularly paused for analysis, discussion and animation with music from the duos Rosa Belmonte / Meneo, Brays Efe / Gela, Lalachus / Lúa Gándara, Ger / Laura Put, Eduardo Navarrete and Cascales and Pupi Poisson / Rev Silver, 12, 19 and 26 July, and 2, 9 and 16 August.

On 23 August, the Academy of Motion Pictures will host the announcement of the winners of its fourth residency programme, which the Academy runs with the support of Madrid City Council and Madrid Film Office. This will be followed by a screening of some shorts by previous residents to promote some of the stories developed through the programme that will be released in the coming months. 

More offerings                                                                                       

Le Patin Libre is a Canadian company that specialises in contemporary dance on wheels, so the Veranos de la Villa festival has invited its members to show us their skills at some of the city’s most iconic landmarks and to share with the Madrid public all they know about this sport and healthy leisure pursuit. Patinar el verano (Skating the Summer) workshops will be held on 5 and 6 July in Paseo de Fernán Núñez in El Retiro Park and Madrid Río Park's Explanada Negra Multiusos, in collaboration with the embassy of Canada in Spain.

As part of the Veranos de la Villa festival, speakers and researchers will be talking about the oriental gardens of the Silk Route on 8, 9 and 10 July, in the Palacio de Fernán Núñez, in collaboration with Casa Asia and the Spanish Railway Foundation. These conferences will accompany the two projects Casa Asia is presenting in Madrid's Royal Botanical Gardens: the installation Un jardín zen negro (A Black Zen Garden), built with ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Island of La Palma; and an exhibition project La risa de las flores (The Laughter of Flowers), which brings together the work of fourteen Asian and Spanish artists who have researched the culture of flowers in Asia.

This year, the festival is bringing its programme back to public swimming pools. Splash! Así suena el verano (That’s what summer sound like) is a summer offering that will use the sounds generated in swimming pools to create the song or songs of the summer—pieces that are lively and fresh as a result of civic engagement. Its caravan-recording studio will visit five swimming pools around the city on 31 July and 3, 7, 10 and 14 August. 

Accessibility
The Veranos de la Villa festival is committed to accessibility and bringing culture to everyone. Practically all of the events in its offerings are accessible for people in wheelchairs and have accessibility measures for content, such as audio-descriptions and guided tours, sign-language interpreters, vibrating backpacks, magnetic loop equipment and amplified sound.

Specific places are reserved for people with disabilities to enable them to enjoy the activities with the highest guarantees of quality, ensuring better access and location depending on their needs for support. The accessibility tab on the official website offers full information on all accessibility measures for each of the shows, the channels provided to request places reserved for people with disabilities, and information on discounts and schedules for provision of accessibility equipment.

Ticketing Information

Tickets are available from the website www.veranosdelavilla.com and the Plaza Mayor Tourist Information Centre. Tickets will also be available at the ticket offices of the venues for the activities they are hosting. Access to free activities is on a first-come basis until full, with the exception of Algo inesperado (Something Unexpected), free tickets for which can be downloaded from 8 August from the festival website.

All of the festivals cultural offerings are on the official website www.veranosdelavilla.com.