Els Poblets has always been a town willing to promote music in Valencia. Its history dates back to the mid-80s, when rock nights at summer parties began to settle down and form an essential part of the summer programming, betting on the performance of Catalan and Valencian groups. Maria del Mar Bonet, Remigi Palmero or the Companyia Elèctrica Dharma are some of the groups and singer-songwriters that had their space in the municipality.
This was, in essence, the origin of the Almadrava Rock. A festival that was born in 1999 from the desire to promote Valencian musical culture and, in general, the language of the territory. But not only did he get that. It managed to place Els Poblets on the map as a benchmark for this art, it became another form of popular festival and marked a before and after in the proliferation of similar festivals.
The key figures of Almadrava Rock
But, how did such a small town manage to reach the highest festival level when no one else was betting on music in Valencia? Vicent Xavier Contrí, denier journalist, teacher and one of the organizers of the first Almadrava Rock, is convinced that the key figure in everything was, and is, Salvador Sendra, current councilor for Culture and then mayor of the municipality.
One of those rock night concerts, with Lax'Busto on stage, was the one that led to a chance meeting between Salvador, Vicent and Isabel Moreno, then manager of the group Pinka (Xàbia). "There were few people and we agreed that it was a shame that the event was not more powerful and more publicized to make it known," recalls Vicent.
There was the opportunity. Filling a void at a time when no one, or very few people, was committed to creating a festival entirely in Valencia. All of them were clear. His job would be to promote the quarry of Valencian bands that were beginning to emerge.
Startup
The name that Isabel and Vicent found for the festival was also very powerful. And symbolism. Between Dianense beaches, a small piece of boulders was part of Els Poblets. And that was how the name of this little piece of the Marina coast seemed the most appropriate to baptize a local summer show whose nomenclature perfectly defined that stage and its people.
The project and the poster proposal convinced the City Council, so that the municipal corporation became the main organizer, investing money and time in publicizing it. Advised on the musical side by the experience of Contrí and Moreno, they obtained fair wages for the musicians, a setting worthy of that pioneering event and lower costs so that the small town hall could cover it.
Sant Gatxo, Ja t'ho diré, Pinka, Sopa de Cabra, Obrint Pas and Skaband Malajunça made up the first bill. Vicent insists that the programming was always devised under three main criteria: «That there should be powerful groups already known, at least one representative from the Marina Alta and include groups with different accents of our language, such as from Catalonia or the Balearic Islands».
A success that multiplied over the years. In its third edition, the festival was divided into two days, Friday and Saturday. And the option of a camping area for those who came from outside. All this with the gratuity that defined its nature and the cudolet, the mascot or emblematic symbol of Almadrava Rock, announced everywhere.
A true promoter of festivals in Valencia
The last edition was held in 2003. That year the municipal corporation changed and it was the end of Almadrava Rock as such. A year later the Almadrava Pop Rock would arrive, but abandoning the informative character of the Valencian culture and language. Renowned national groups were their main claim, so the work of Contrí and Moreno also ceased.
However, far from abandoning all hope, the City Council of Dénia He recovered the idea with the Rock a la mar festival in 2005. This lasted three more years, until 2007, on the Punta del Raset beach.
But with the Almadrava Rock the rock nights in the Marina did not die. The concerts continue to be an essential event of the patron saint and popular festivals that follow each other from spring to autumn in the region. In addition, after him came a tide of festivals in Valencia throughout the autonomous community that well portrays the exhibition Musical Spring of the University of Alicante.
The revival of the mythical festival in Els Poblets
After 19 years of its end, with a pandemic in between and with this one that seemed to give a truce in 2022, both the Els Poblets City Council and Contrí, Moreno and Sendra got down to work to commemorate the historic festival. This time with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport, through the Valencian Institute of Culture, and with the posters of the same studio that designed the five posters at the time, La banyera (Xàbia).
“One of the things that has always worried us is the issue of equality. At the time there were groups with female members, such as Arròs Caldós. But now we are lucky that we can already make a poster where half of the groups are made up of women, ”says Vicent. In this way, the young voices of Esther and her band (Vinaròs), TREMP (Gata de Gorgos), who with their elaborate lyrics will provide the local point, the popular group La Fúmiga (Alzira) and the lively members of Maluks (València) will revive the flame of one of the most important festivals in the Marina.
An event that many people have been waiting for and that tonight will kick off with a vengeance representing the entire territory and four decades of music in Valencia in Els Poblets. With the special illusion of bringing together the generations of then and now in the same space. The usual one, Sant Roc street, under the watchful eye of the Serra de Segària and next to the Girona river. A marked appointment that is expected to be a real resurgence and not a simple tribute.
Please read the article well. It is very well explained and on Saturday they sang in Valencian
Like what musical festival in Valencia? Maria del Mar Bonet is from Mallorca, Palma, Companyia Elèctrica Dharma de Catalunya, Barcelona, Sants neighborhood, Lax'Busto Catalunya Tarragona El Vendrell, Goat Soup Càtalunya Gerona. Are they all Valencians now? How about if we ask them what style of musical they do and in what language they sing?