2022 - The Year of Festivals

Follow Gil's return to the big stages, after the end of the pandemic restrictions

By Instituto Gilberto Gil

By Cristina Dória

Gilberto Gil, Jair Rodrigues, Elis Regina e outros no Festival da CançãoInstituto Gilberto Gil

Minha Senhora, por Gilberto Gil em voz e violão
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Since the beginning of his career Gilberto Gil has had a close relationship with festivals. It was at the International Song Festival, on TV Rio, in 1966, that for the first time one of his songs appeared for the general public - "Minha Senhora", interpreted by Gal Costa.

Gilberto Gil e o conjunto Os Mutantes durante apresentação no III Festival da Música Popular Brasileira da TV Record (Outubro de 1967)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Then "Ensaio Geral", performed by Elis Regina was presented at the 2nd festival of Brazilian Popular Music, of TV Record, in São Paulo.

Gilberto Gil no III Festival da Música Popular Brasileira (Outubro de 1967)Instituto Gilberto Gil

And the following year, in 1967, at the 3rd Festival of the same broadcast TV, there was the historic performance with Os Mutantes, defending "Domingo no Parque", which came in second place and consecrated Gilberto Gil's career as a singer and composer.

Gilberto Gil em show da turnê Luar (1981)Instituto Gilberto Gil

From then on there were countless performances in Festivals - national and especially international, since every year since the late 70's he performs in the Festivals that take place usually during summers, in several countries in Europe.

Capa do álbum Gilberto Gil ao vivo em Montreux, de Gilberto Gil (1978)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Palco, por Gilberto Gil no 37º Festival de Jazz de Montreux
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So much so that already in 1978 he records a live album at the famous Montreux Festival, where he performed numerous times.

But, 2022 was a special year for Gil. He performed 20 times at Festivals.

Gilberto Gil e a neta Flor Gil durante show no MITA Festival no Rio de Janeiro (2022-05-21)Instituto Gilberto Gil

After the Covid pandemic, the possibility of gathering large audiences returned with full force and, after 2 years of nostalgia, the Festivals are back with everything, both in Brazil and abroad.

Apresentação de Gilberto Gil no festival MITA no Rio de Janeiro em 2022 (2022-05-22)Instituto Gilberto Gil

MITA (Music Is The Answer)

Starting in May with two presentations at MITA (Music Is The Answer), in Rio and São Paulo, which in its first edition had 16 national and international attractions.

Gilberto Gil durante show no MITA Festival em São Paulo (2022-05-14)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Also in May, on the 28th, Gil performed again in Rio, at the Queremos Festival! The festival was in its 3rd edition (2018 and 2019 were the first two) and in a single day presented 12 different performances.

Agenda Turnê Nós a Gente (2022-05)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Europe

At the end of June, Gilberto Gil traveled to the Europe Tour with the whole family, and among the 17 shows performed, 11 were at Festivals. 

Programa do Festival Jazz Baltica, com show de Gilberto Gil Capa (7/1/2005)Instituto Gilberto Gil

The series started right on June 26, Gil's 80th birthday, at Jazz Baltica, a world music festival that has been held since 1990 in cities on the Baltic Sea coast.

Gil chegando para a passagem de som para show no festival JazzABlanca em 2022 (2022-07-04) by Flora GilInstituto Gilberto Gil

After two solo shows in Copenhagen, Denmark, they headed to Morocco, where the band took part in "JazzABlanca", which among the attractions also featured Ben Harper.

Italia78Instituto Gilberto Gil

From there they returned to Northern Europe for a show in a theater in Berlin and immediately left again to the south, to Italy and Slovenia. The first stop was on July 9 in Perugia, at Umbria Jazz, where on the same day Marisa Monte was also performing.

Gilberto Gil performs at the 25th edition of the Umbria Jazz festival, in the Italian city of Perugia (1998-10-07)Instituto Gilberto Gil

This is one of the most important and oldest festivals of the European summer, it has been held since 1973 and has hosted other Brazilians like João Gilberto and Caetano Veloso, and other big stars like Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, Lady Gaga and Prince. Joss Stone was another of 2022's attractions.

Cartazes e Credenciais07Instituto Gilberto Gil

In Slovenia, the event was the Jazz Festival Piran in the city of Portoroz, which took place between July 6 and 18 on various stages around the city.

Gil no Festival Jazz a Juan 2022 (2022-07-16)Instituto Gilberto Gil

In France, Gilberto Gil participated in four festivals - two in July and two in August, towards the end of the tour. On July 16 he was on stage at Jazz à Juan, in Antibes, which is already in its 61st edition and was the basis of inspiration for Claude Nobs, creator of the Montreux festival.

Cartazes e Credenciais04Instituto Gilberto Gil

Two days later, Gil performed in Narbonne at Jazz à L'Hospitalet, a festival that also hosted Simple Minds, Nile Rodgers & Chic and several French artists. 

França09Instituto Gilberto Gil

The other French festivals, already in August, were Jazz au Phare, at the Ilé de Ré, in Saint-Clément-des-Baleines, and the Festival Des Voix, in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, near Toulouse. 

Geneve11 by Marcio ToledoInstituto Gilberto Gil

Still in July, they had three other festivals on the Europe tour - one in Geneva, Switzerland, the Musiques en Été, which presented 25 concerts at La Grange Park on different stages. Gil performed on the Ella Fitzgerald stage.

Barcelona01Instituto Gilberto Gil

Pedralbes

On July 21, it was time for the Pedralbes festival in Barcelona, in northeastern Spain. Gil had already performed there in 2019 and the success was repeated with the concert with his family. 

UK164Instituto Gilberto Gil

WOMAD

And the last day of July was left for the most prestigious festival of this season, WOMAD (World of Music, Art and Dance), the iconic festival created by Peter Gabriel in 1980, which has been held in other cities, but whose recent editions are in Malmesbury.

Festival Rock in Rio 2022 (2022-09-04)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Back in Brazil, which also saw a boom of festivals during 2022, Gil performed in early September at the biggest of them all, Rock In Rio, a festival where he has been a regular since the first edition (1985), including an edition in Portugal.

Gilberto Gil com o diretor artístico Zé Ricardo e os cantores Luisa Sonza e Xamã durante ensaio para o iFood Music Fest (Maio de 2022)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Before the Rio concert, Gil still participated in the iFood Festival, an event in São Paulo, where he sang with Luísa Sonza and Xamã.

Festival Coala 2022 (2022-09-22)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Then it was time for Coala, on September 16, in São Paulo, replacing Alcione.
There was also Sensacional Celebra, in Belo Horizonte, on September 18, an offspring of the Sensacional Festival that happened in the first semester...

Festival Rock The Mountain (2022-11-12)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Remembering Gal

and lastly in November at Rock The Mountain, the new festival taking place in Itaipava, in Serra Fluminense across two weekends. Gil performed on November 5 and 12, closing the "Year of the festivals" and making a beautiful tribute to his friend Gal Costa (1945-2022).

Credits: All media
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