Benidorm opens the exhibition on its historic Song Festival a few days before the new edition of Benidorm Fest

With just three days before the fourth edition of Benidorm Fest begins, Benidorm City Council is hosting the first exhibition organised jointly with Spanish National Television, especially among younger audiences, to promote the historic Benidorm Song Festival, one of the most important events of that time and which brought to prominence music figures such as Raphael and Julio Iglesias. The exhibition, is called ‘Benidorm Festival. The origin’ and curated by the Councillor for the Presidency and Communication, Juan Díaz, has opened its doors in an event attended by the mayor of the city, Toni Pérez, together with numerous members of the municipal Corporation, as well as many people eager to relive that event.

The public will be able to see at this exhibition a replica made from the same mould used to cast the Little Mermaid that was awarded to Monna Bell in its first edition in 1959; as well as photographs, documents and videos from the archives of the City Council and RTVE, after the entire documentary collection of RNE was digitalised, which took over the archives of the REM-CAR, in a first-rate event that now makes these collections available to everyone. Also on display are other items related to that legendary event, such as records, brochures and notebooks, together with many more current items from the first three editions of the Benidorm Fest, such as the Bronze Microphone that is now awarded as a trophy; the Nebulossa sofa or the outfits that Chanel, Blanca Paloma and Nebulossa wore in Eurovision.

Mayor Toni Pérez stressed that this exhibition aimed to make known the origins of what was “one of the most popular events of the time” and to spread its relevance “, especially among Eurofans who belong to a younger generation of audiences and who probably do not know the milestone that our Festival marked in the history of music in our country”.

For this reason, he has encouraged “all those who will visit us throughout the week for the Benidorm Fest to visit the exhibition, because we are sure that they will love it” but also “all those who lived through the golden age of our Song Festival, because they will find documentation and images that will undoubtedly take them back to those days.”

The exhibition can be visited from today until next Sunday, February 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the Espai d’Art and the Town Hall’s Assembly Hall, where images of Benidorm and its Song Festival broadcast at the time by NO-DO are also projected.

Everything is ready at Palau d’Esports for the fourth edition

The inauguration of this exhibition took place just after one in the afternoon, although the activity had already started a few hours before. This morning, Mayor Toni Pérez visited the Palau d’Esports l’Illa in Benidorm to follow live the final works of setting up the stage where the two semi-finals will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, before giving way to the grand final which will take place on Saturday, February 1, and in which the representative of Spain in Eurovision will be chosen. The mayor was accompanied on this visit by the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón; the regional minister for Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Generalitat, Marián Cano; and the councillor for Events, Jesús Carrobles.

The co-directors of Benidorm Fest, Ana María Bordás and César Vallejo, accompanied them on this visit. They explained how the stage and the rest of the set-up on the central track of the Palau for the three galas will work and guided them through the area set up for dressing rooms, technicians, and the rest of the programmes related to the Benidorm Fest that will be broadcast on La1 of Televisión Española, RTVE Play, or Radio Nacional.

Opening of the ‘Gastro League’ zone

Also, last Friday night, Mayor Toni Pérez and other councillors from the Corporation participated in the inauguration of the ‘Gastro League’ zone of the Euroclub of the Benidorm Fest. This space forms part of the parallel programme organised by the Benidorm City Council for fans of the ‘Fest’ and Eurofans, and it will offer gastronomic and entertainment options throughout the week.

In addition, in this space and in Julio Iglesias Auditorium on the day of the final, the Benidorm Fest galas can be followed live on giant screens.