The summer festival cycle (May-October) is approaching. This is the time when the Azores throw away – literally! – millions of euros to pay the price of gold for artists, many of whom are of more than dubious quality and who add nothing good to the Azorean cultural scene. On the contrary, they create habits of so-called cultural consumption that are not very recommendable. In general, this is about the famous “pimbalhada”, which is expressed in various ways, not just through music.
There is an urgent need to reflect deeply on this bad problem. Of course, we’re not talking about what has been proven to add value and leave something culturally valid on the islands. We’re talking about “products” that are “packaged” to entertain people at the lowest common denominator, that cost an arm and a leg, and that don’t contribute to refining tastes—but rather contribute to building a truly primary, uncomplicated, and very unpleasant public space.
Reflecting on this problem requires at least two lines of thought:

  • On the one hand, we should want to bring to the Azores what is proven to be the best in the cultural market, including music. To do this, we need good programmers – not snake-oil salesmen – linked to the summer festivals, whether in the municipality, parish, or other festivals, and the ideal would be to organize programs that cover an entire year. We should be attentive to what the market offers, including the market of the emigrant Azorean communities, which is much more than vinho de cheiro (typical Azorean wine), torresmos (marinated pork), and cornbread. For example, the Azorean roots have produced the best imaginable in the USA, Canada, and Brazil, from popular music to high culture. Incredibly, we are not connected to that world. In other words, whatever comes from outside – and it must, if we are to be in the world – must add to it and help create audiences for ever higher cultural levels.
  • On the other hand, it is more than urgent to think about the culture made in the Azores. It must be promoted and empowered to grow, win over audiences, and project itself, thus projecting the region to ever higher levels. For example, we have well-known and of great quality artists who, among us, are used, if at all, to do first bits of pimbalhada (low quality folksy entertainment) or to frequent smaller stages, being paid miserably, in absolute and comparative terms. This is an old Azorean problem – not believing in ourselves and belittling ourselves.
    We urgently need to get out of this hole!

In Diário Insular-editorial for April 15, 2025-José Lourenço, director and Armando Mendes (Phd) editor-in-chief

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers, writers, and editorial boards from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).