By José Gandue @Gandour Photo by Oscar Perfer @perferoscar
It has to be said as it is: It was a good festival. It didn't need the biggest stars to seduce the audience or to prevent the attendees from feeling that the spirit of times past had somehow been recovered. It was an event with magical moments that stood out above the misfortunes predicted by the most pessimistic. The atmosphere was great, and aside from the foolishness of those who don't belong to this scene and wanted to ruin the magic of the event, everything went smoothly. Rock al Parque 2017 was a success, despite the low budget, some communication inconsistencies, and those who still demand fascist measures to define the meaning of rock music.
Equal, Given the avalanche of programming from the District Institute of the Arts (Idartes) for the rest of the year, Not much is said about the lessons learned from the festival, and a healthy debate about what happened isn't generated. However, this is likely to happen if it isn't promoted by the public sector., He must be motivated by the media that were present at Rock al Parque.
At Zonagirante.com we believe there is still much to be done, and not so much on the artistic side. (the festival's curators have shown that they understand this more and more clearly), but rather in the impact that this and other events bearing the "Al Parque" label should have. This and the other festivals organized by the Bogotá Mayor's Office for free admission for citizens. They should be more useful to the scene. We have already emphasized in other articles how limited the promotion is and how it is mostly focused on saying who is coming, giving little prominence to local proposals. The mistake lies in believing that these projects only need to be present at the festival to connect with the press and promoters, when in fact that's when they receive the least attention from reporters, given the overwhelming number of offerings at the festival. The main objective of the Bogotá scene at its festival is to connect with the press and promoters. It's about obtaining the tools so that the attending public can connect with their representatives. and be able to track him from that event onwards for the rest of the year. That's where the organizers fail.
Rock al Parque needs to grow, for the good of Bogota's bands., in its work to extend ties with other countries. The only international exchange currently operating between the festival and other foreign entities is the one established with the Mexican label Intolerancia. And the truth is, it doesn't quite satisfy., Not only because the bands that have recently come through this company are not the best representatives of the scene in Mexico City and its surroundings, but also because what is received by the local groups that are selected to go to Mexico is not entirely interesting. We need to open more doors and connect with other fronts. The aim is to complete, as many times as necessary, the circle that consolidates the presence of Bogota groups outside the city limits. and that this objective flows for the good not only of the artists but also of the city that hosts them. The idea is to reposition Rock al Parque as one of the main musical centers of the continent and consolidate it as an undeniable space of Latin American cultural reciprocity.
For all this, a proposal that will not be well received by some of those in charge of organizing the festival: A permanent festival office must be created urgently in the Mayor's Office of Bogotá. Call it what you will, but public entities must provide a year-round space to facilitate the expansion of local talent, not only within the city itself but also to the world at large. At the capital city level, There are too many underutilized venues throughout the urban area that should be constantly occupied by the city's cultural expressions. We need to cultivate an audience, not only in terms of providing fair entertainment for the population but also to foster a sector that should be relevant to our national economy: The cultural industries. In turn, this model must heavily incorporate the export possibilities for these artists to perform on any stage worldwide. The financial effort must be a joint one between state entities and the private sector., assuming that it must be profitable in a few years, It must secure jobs and bring direct or indirect benefits to the public. But to achieve this, there must be an office with concrete plans for the future that addresses these issues.
In short, Rock al Parque brings up many more topics than those generated in dozens of performances over three days in Simón Bolívar Park. If these discussions take place and results begin to be obtained, then we can speak more confidently about the usefulness of the festival. Zonagirante invites you to this debate throughout the rest of the year, and hopefully those involved can address our questions.
Thank you to all our readers for being by our side during the development of this special. We've seen incredible visitor statistics and felt your support throughout these days. Your backing makes us happy. We'll continue working towards our meeting to keep talking about contemporary Latin American music., as we have done for the past 18 years.
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