Sacramento de Colonia’s first-ever international arts festival

Whenever Buenos Aires seems too much, I recommend a trip across the river to Uruguay. At any time a change from the fervour of the big city to the green and pleasant village-like city of Sacramento de Colonia is like a tonic for the soul. And now is the perfect time to get away from it all.

From November 8 to 10, Sacramento de Colonia will host its first-ever international arts festival, modelled on the famous Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds founded by Gian Carlo Menotti (which takes place in Italy, with a “twin” event, the Spoleto Festival USA, in Charleston, South Carolina). The organiser and director of this new event is renowned Uruguayan pianist Enrique Graf, who is based in Charleston. The focus of the festival is to bring together rising artists from Argenti- na, Brazil, the United States and Uruguay for a special three-day run of performances. It will be the first festival held in Uruguay that brings together classical music, tango, jazz, theatre, documentary film and the plastic arts.

Among the artists are some notable names, including Argentine pianists Mirian Conti (resident in the United States) and Fernando Pérez, Hércules Gomes of Brazil and Foderé of Uruguay. Renowned leading actress Estela Medina will also give a one-woman performance on home soil, ranging from Gabriel Calderón to Baudelaire. Uruguayan singer María Antúnez and the Uruguayan group La Mufa cover the vocal arts, from opera to tango.

Full details at www.FestivalColonia.org, where tickets are already on sale.