The Mamakabo art festival, hosted at the Etnomir cultural and educational center in the Kaluga Region, has come to an end, the Kaluga Region’s culture ministry said.
“Dozens of Russian and foreign musicians playing various styles and genres of music performed during the four-day festival. There were several spectacular performances, including those by Mamakabo’s regular participants like Sergei Nazarov’s Theater of Sand and Vladimir Zakharov’s ‘2 plus
Koo’ puppet theater. The festival also included photo exhibitions and master classes by renowned craftsmen and Russia’s leading animators,” the ministry said.
Cameroon’s jazz musician Etienne Mbappe and the American musician Howard Levy also hosted master classes. A special program marking the Beatles’ 50th anniversary and a performance by Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel brought the curtain down on the festival.
According to the Kaluga Region’s Culture Minister Alexander Tipakov, the Mamakabo festival featured music that is rarely heard on radio or TV.
Large families, socially excluded and disabled people were all granted free admission to all the festival’s events while local residents received a 20% discount, the official added.
Alexander Tipakov also said that the government of the Kaluga Region and the Russian Culture Ministry would develop a program for this festival to be held in the Kaluga Region again in the future.
“This program will address both organizational and financial issues,” the minister said.
Mamakabo’s general producer Timur Vedernikov emphasized that the festival had been very well organized. He also supported the idea of the festival being held at the Etnomir center in the future.
“Etnomir is the ideal venue for Mamakabo, it’s a perfect fit,” Vedernikov said.
