Fira Mediterrània in October – bigger and better than ever before

The business area -at its peak- consolidates itself as a must-attend industry event, revealing its commitment to networking and internationalisation
Fira opts for a genuine people-orientated event, with 60% free-entry shows
Show attendance reaches 79%, with 17 shows sold out (figures from Saturday night), confirming Fira Mediterrània’s power of attraction
La Troba Kung-Fú, Pierre Deaux, Kulbik&Cobla Sant Jordi, Eliseo Parra, la Iaia XXL with Cobla Bisbal Jove, Toumani Diabaté, Big Band Basket Beat Bcn, Despertaferro Tocatta and Massilia Sound System, are the main artistic highlights of this year’s Fira
The new and enlarged Tavern Estrella Damm - Foods of the World, in Manresa centre, becomes the heart of Fira and its central venue

Manresa, 12 October. The 17th Fira Mediterrània Manresa closes this evening with excellent results, after being held for the first time in October. It reinforces its potential as a marketplace and sees an increase of positive reviews from the public. The event this year has focussed on what popular culture of today entails, and the result champions a broad, updated and inclusive vision, featuring video games, urban arts, circus, new performing arts, street theatre and festive tradition. The city’s artistic and professional activities have revealed the multi-facets of popular culture, from a range of different perspectives. For the first time ever, a new direction taken in event booking has brought shows to Manresa that highlight the great transformational capacity of culture. Fira this year has seen involvement by a huge range of people, including senior citizens, children, young people and people with disabilities.

Professional activity

Fira has consolidated itself as an important hub of professional industry activity, registering similar figures to last year, a veritable success. There were 1,053 registered industry professionals, from 570 different organisations. Registrations included 137 (13% of the total) by international people, 805 by Catalans (76.5%) and 111 by people from the rest of Spain (10.5%).

Professional activity at Fira Mediterrànea has been electrifying, as a result of the one thousand registered industry professionals that visited the Manresa Technical Museum, the headquarters of Fira’s business area. The professional conference held on Thursday and Friday registered over 200 participants, a record for the Manresa marketplace. The four networking meetings were also successful, seeing participation by 130 people and significant international presence. Other successful events to take place were the 180 speed dating sessions with industry experts, as well as the international networking meeting, with participation by 20 Catalan companies.

In terms of artistic projects, the attendance of shows by industry professionals was highest for the concert by Kòdul, Txarango and Addictive at Stroika (Friday night), the show by Kepa Junkera, Amadeu Rosell and Tururut Bonaigua at Taverna Estrella DAMM – World Cuisine (Late night Friday); the recital by Toumani i Sidiki Diabaté at the Teatre Conservatori (Saturday 6pm); the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus spectacular with the Ensemble Al-Kindi at the Kursaal Theatre (Saturday 9pm) and the Nit de Ball Folc at Taverna (Saturday 9pm).

Artistic line-up for a large range of audiences

The decision to make Fira Mediterrànea more people-orientated is reflected in its artistic line-up. By the end of today, more than 300 artistic professional and city-based activities will have come to Manresa, performed by a total of 107 groups and companies, of which 68 are Catalan, 14 from the rest of Spain and 25 international. These groups have staged a total of around 200 shows and events, comprising the official programme and OFF Mediterrània line-up. Of these, 62% of shows were free entry (125) and 38% were ticket-purchase (76), reinforcing Fira’s commitment to a more people-orientated vision of culture, with special focus on traditional folkloric festivals, street art and new types of performing arts. That many shows were free-entry has led to a reduction of ticket-selling venues by 31%, compared with previous years. For paid-ticket shows, registered ticket sales were high, reaching 79% of total ticket sales.

A total of seventeen shows were complete sell-outs. These included ‘Revetlla Mediterrània’ by La Troba Kung-Fú and Unió Musical d’Alaquàs; Friday night at Stroika with the triple act Kòdul-Txarango-Addcitive TV; Eliseo Parra, who performed at El Sielu; and the shows ‘Alice’ by Thomas Noone Dance (2 shows), ‘La nit just abans dels boscos’ (3 shows) by Arsènic Creació, ‘Tocant les pilotes’ by the Big Band Basket Beat Barcelona (1 show), the ‘Enciclopèdia baixeta de la nit’ (2 shows) by the company 2princeses barbudes, the ‘Petit Príncep’ (3 shows) by N54 produccions and ‘Baboo Experience’ by Imaginart (3 shows).

Beyond ticket sales, the major artistic achievements of this year include the opening concert with La Troba Kung-Fú; the tightrope walker spectacle by Pierre Deaux; the fusion of modernity with tradition by Kulbik Dance Company & Cobla Sant Jordi; the elegance and wisdom of Eliseo Parra; the unquestionable excellence of the unison between La Iaia and Cobla Bisbal Jove; the brilliant recital by Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki; the enlightening experience of Big Band Basket Beat Barcelona; the stunning amalgamation of heritage, music technology and audio-visuals by Despertaferro Tocatta - Xavi Lloses and David Sarsanedes, and the undeniable savoir faire of the seasoned professionals Massilia Sound System.

Revamped venues

The decision to revamp the Taverna, now the Taverna Estrella Damm – World Cuisine, in in Jardí del Casino has opened up two new areas. Firstly, the Taverna itself, which has been expanded, and which has hosted different shows, including the opening show and the closing event, which will bring Fira to a close with the Cobla Catalana dels Sons Essencials. Secondly, Sant Domènec plaza, featuring circus shows and games, which has become a genuine outdoor stage venue with events for a whole range of audiences, enabling an easier flow of movement between Pg. Peter III, Plana de l’Om and the main square.

New website

Fira Mediterrània this year sees its website updated to facilitate users’ experience browsing Fira’s programme, both for the general public and industry professionals. As a result, 23,761 visits were registered over the last month, 3,000 more compared with figures over the same period last year.

Facts and Figures

Highlighted facts and figures at the closure of the 17th Fira Mediterrània Manresa are as follows:

Total number of industry professionals:1,053 (compared with 1,050 in 2013)
Catalans: 805 (76.5%)
Rest of Spain: 111 (10.5%)
International: 137 (13%)

Professional organisations: 570
Tickets: 13.037
Ticket sales: 79.32%
Free entry shows: 62%
Sold-out shows: 17
Registrations for the professional conference: 207
Speed dating sessions at the Mediterrània Professional Meeting with 100% occupation rate: 180
Exhibitor stands sold-out in the business area: 46

Other facts and figures for the 17th FIRA MEDITERRÀNIA MANRESA

Stands in the Fira Passeig: 91
Mentions of Fira by the media: 630 (until Saturday afternoon)
Schools in Manresa and the Bages area that took part in FiraEscoles: 21
Facebook fans: 4,330
Twitter followers: 2,952
Scope and delivery of #FMediterrania Hashtag to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (from 4 to 11 October): 574,867
Instagram #FMediterrania: 629
Viewing of YouTube videos: 6,635 (52 subscribers)
Number of visits to Fira website in the last month: 23,761 with an average of 3.63 pages per session, with visits lasting 3.56 minutes.
Countries from which browsing the Fira website took place: 75 (with France, Italy, USA, UK and Germany heading ratings).

Lluís Puig (director general of Cultura Popular, Associacionisme i
Acció Culturals), Joan Calmet (regidor of Culture), Lídia Hinojo (Executive Manager of Fira),
Valentí Junyent (Major of Manresa) and David Ibáñez (Artistic Director of Fira.