International Festival of Music and Dance

Its origin dates back to the symphonic concerts performed at the Palace of Charles V during the Corpus Christi holidays since 1883 and the «Cante Jondo» (flamenco singing) contest convened at the Alhambra in 1922 by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla and other intellectuals and artists.

With the denomination as Festival, since 1952, it has made itself known and appreciated for the extraordinary settings where its concerts and performances are held and for having known how to combine in its programmes the presence of the current great performers with well-conceived wagers on young artists summoned to be the maestros of the future: images have been seen all over the world of Rubinstein, Victoria de los Ángeles or Andrés Segovia in the most beautiful Arab courtyards of the Alhambra, of Schuricht, Karajan or Celibidache conducting at the Palace of Charles V, of Margot Fonteyn or Nureyev dancing in the Gardens of the Generalife, but the Festival can also take credit for having welcomed at the outset of their careers promising artists like Teresa Berganza, Lorin Maazel, Antonio or Joaquín Achúcarro, among others.

The programming of the Festival is traditionally based on classical music, ballet and Spanish dancing, but together with this classical repertoire it also includes attractive samples of Flamenco, ancient and contemporary music, interesting exhibitions and continues offering this range of propositions on each occasion. The Festival plunges the city and the visitor into an atmosphere of celebration during several days. Attending its summons is to cross through and to penetrate into some of the most lovely corners of Granada; enjoying its programmes is to appreciate culture as a meeting point between different traditions and also between history and the new creations.