The organizer of the Ibiza Swing Fun Fest, Marçal Alemany , acknowledges that “I was afraid that the coronavirus had diminished” the community of ‘lindy hoppers’, however, the warm response for the third year has shown that “the swing movement is more alive than ever” . According to the figures, they signed up about 500 people for the event, 80% from the peninsula and 20% from abroad. “There are people from France, Italy, United Kingdom and even Australia. forty of us are locals,” he says minutes after starting the third and final day of the Ibiza Swing Fun Fest, held in one of his favorite locations, sa Punta des Molí, in Sant Antoni.
Ibiza Swing Fun Fest conqueres the clubs
“This year with swing music we have conquered electronic music,” says Alemany proudly, still exhausted from the previous day, which ended in Es Paradís at four o’clock in the morning. “The club was packed with people dancing lindy hop,” he says, very satisfied with the success of the “night passes”, which were also sold out for Friday’s welcome party at Teatro Ibiza, in Vila, and Dunes Ibiza, in Platja d’en Bossa.
This is the first year that the Ibiza Swing Fun Fest, which has always been held in public spaces, programmed events in private venues. “The public response has been much better than I expected”, admits Alemany, after commenting that the Ibiza Swing Fun Fun Academy resumed classes on the island in February after an almost three year hiatus due to the pandemic. “Lindy hop is a social dance with physical contact, so we did not decide to start until we felt it could be safe and comfortable,” he explains.
Greasing the machinery of the festival to resume it again after being halted in 2020 and 2021, was not an easy task, but the effort, it seems, has been worth it. The organizer of the international festival of swing music and lindy hop on the island is very grateful to the municipalities of Sant Antoni, Sant Josep and Vila, as well as Ibiza Travel and the Consell de Ibiza, because thanks to their support the event has grown and has been able to reach more municipalities on the island.
“A family festival”
It’s a sunny day and, for the moment, there is hardly anyone at sa Punta des Molí: “The two previous Ibiza Swing Fun Fests were held in April and this is the first one we’ve organized in May and, moreover, with a heat wave. The sun stings and we have little shade here. We will have to take note for 2023 because my idea is to organize the festival again for May”, he comments.
“Next year we will ask to play in prime time and not at the worst hours”, jokes with Alemany Miquel Prats Botja, leader of Bluesmàfia, who will open this third day. The band, which a few minutes ago was rehearsing on stage, has left aside the rock and roll on this occasion and has prepared a repertoire of their own songs and versions of swing and jump blues.
Gradually, some couples are encouraged to dance, while the rest watch them sheltered from the sun’s rays under a small tent. Among the audience there are many people who have attended in previous years. As Alemany remarks, “the Ibiza Swing Fun Fest is a family festival in which those who come, return”. This is the case of Enrique, from Valencia, who was already in 2018. For his companion, Luz, it is the first time. They have been practicing lindy hop for years and only see advantages: “We save going to the gym, we laugh a lot and we travel,” they say.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.