Benidorm and RTVE will promote new exhibitions to continue spreading the history of the Song Festival

Benidorm City Council and Spanish National Television (RTVE) have today expressed their willingness to organise new exhibitions to continue spreading the history of the historic Benidorm Song Festival, the competition that brought to prominence great figures of music in our country and whose legacy now continues with the Benidorm Fest. They did so during a press conference attended by the Councillor for the Presidency and Communication, Juan Díaz, also curator of the exhibition, together with the Director of Participation and Communication of RTVE, María Eizaguirre, and the Director of the RTVE Archive, Virginia Bazán, in which they gave details of this exhibition to journalists, communicators and participants of previous editions of the ‘Fest’.

The appearance, which was also attended by Mayor Toni Pérez and the Councillor for Events, Jesús Carrobles, took place at the Hotel Don Pancho in Benidorm, headquarters of the Benidorm Fest, after which a large group of communicators went to the City Hall's Espai d'Art to enjoy everything that the exhibition includes. Among the material on display is a replica made from the same mould that was used to cast the Little Mermaid that was awarded as a prize at the Festival, as well as photographs, documents and videos from the archives of the City Hall and RTVE, after the public body digitalised the entire documentary collection of RNE, which took over the archives of REM-CAR, in a first-rate event and which now makes these funds available to everyone. There are also other items related to that legendary competition on display, such as records, brochures, notebooks, minutes books, or documents that reflect the censorship of the time, along with much more current objects 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.

There is also information on the prizes that were awarded to the winners of the first edition, which, as Juan Díaz recalled, amounted to “100,000 pesetas of the time for the composer and 50,000 pesetas for the artist”, which reflects the importance that was given from the very beginning to an event “that was initially called ‘Festival de la Voz de Madrid’ but which was renamed ‘Festival de la Canción de Benidorm’ from the second edition due to the great impact it had due to being held in the city”.

The councillor also recalled that “the Festival was an essential promotional element” for the city and that “Benidorm understood it that way from the beginning”.

For her part, Virginia Bazán pointed out that, thanks to this exhibition and the material provided by RTVE, we can attend the debate that took place at the time about opening the Festival to light music or limiting it only to 'copla', as well as about the name of the competition. These members would make up the jury or other details “unknown to a large part of the public”.

The exhibition, which is also completed with articles from the Benidorm Fest and with audiovisual content taken from the NO-DO of the time, can be visited 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 of the City Hall.

Following the press conference to promote the Festival's exhibition among 'Eurofans' and the specialised media, another meeting was held in which 'classic' participants of the Benidorm Fest took part, such as Blanca Paloma, Nebulossa, Almácor, Jorge González, Sofía Coll, among others.