Atlanta Flamenco Festival Opening Concert

The Atlanta Flamenco Festival will bring world-class flamenco artists to Atlanta audiences in a series of concerts and educational programs that will amplify the art form. It takes place in the metro area starting on August 26 – 31, 2024. The festival is the only series of its kind in the South. The non-profit, A Través, Inc., is proud to take this step in bringing a strong artistic presence and international perspectives to the region via (a través de) flamenco. A Través, 501c3, first presented the festival in 2019.

The Atlanta Flamenco Festival begins with performances by a special group of artists from important flamenco cities in Spain: Madrid, Jerez de la Fronera, and Cádiz. They will perform two concerts of live music and dance at Emory University Performing Arts Studio. Macarena de Jerez, an accomplished ´festera´ from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, will headline the concerts on August 31, 2024. Normally a position held by a man in the flamenco stage, a festero or festera is a strong character that employs humor to build emotional expression in song and dance. In this case, Macarena de Jerez, will bring her powerful voice and imposing dance to the stage. She will be accompanied by José Panzekito, a guitarist and singer who hails from one of the oldest flamenco dynasties in Spain. These multi-talented artists will be joined on stage by the young, fiery dancer, El Bocadillo from Madrid, and José Manuel Alconchel, a seasoned guitarist from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Artists will also offer educational programming to create opportunities for Georgia residents who perform flamenco professionally. Local artists will be able to participate in a developmental seminar at the professional level, focusing on advanced concepts of the art form, which rarely are addressed outside of closed, elite artistic circles in Spain. The outreach culminates with a concert in which Georgia artists will perform in a showcase of the role of improvisation in flamenco, which is a strategy used by professional artists in tablaos and on theater stages across Spain.