VEM Festival Gears Up for 27 Hours of Live Music

Villena is gearing up to celebrate a new edition of the VEM festival, which will feature 27 hours of live music. The event will kick off on the evening of Friday, June 13, and continue throughout Saturday until 11 PM.

This new edition of Villena is Music (VEM) will feature eleven stages scattered across various points in the town centre. New additions include Santa María Square and Café de la Kaku to the traditional platforms.

Overall, the VEM festival agenda includes 78 musical activities with 1,600 musicians, totalling 2,011 performers, as many will offer multiple performances over the weekend in Villena.

The Councillor for Culture of Villena, María Server, and the festival director, José Ayelo, presented the new edition of VEM on Tuesday morning, highlighting it as a "participatory, open to the public, and completely free event."

In this vein, they pointed out that it is a "collective celebration of music in all its forms." Thus, VEM features a diversity of styles ranging from classical music, rock, jazz, flamenco, and folklore to rap.

One of the most notable new features is the extension of the schedule—from 7 PM on Friday to 11 PM on Saturday—which will allow the public to enjoy more of the programming and festive atmosphere that VEM offers to the town.

The Councillor for Culture wanted to highlight the participation of the city's educational centres, whose students, in collaboration with municipal bands, will bring to life the choir 'Voces del V Centenario', formed by more than 500 students.

"The VEM is a festival made by and for Villena," said Server, who highlighted that this event "invites people to experience music in Villena and demonstrates that our city vibrates with culture."

The festival's management has assured that "more and more bands from outside Villena are requesting to participate in the festival."