La Ghironda 2025 | Martina Franca

Four days of music and performances, with artists coming from everywhere. **La Ghironda celebrates in Valle d’Itria, which from September 4 to 7 becomes the navel of the world with the Festival of Art and Popular Culture from the five continents. Two locations are involved, Ceglie Messapica, on Thursday, September 4, and Friday, September 5, and Martina Franca, on Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7, where the event conceived by Giovanni Marangi, supported by the municipal administrations of Ceglie Messapica and Martina Franca, is renewed in great style.** Reaching its twenty-eighth edition, the historic festival branded La Ghironda continues to ignite the villages of Puglia with imagination and emotion, connecting the audience and performers, sounds and colors, different languages and cultures, in the spirit of dialogue among people.

Instrumentalists of every genre, from ethnic music to rockabilly, from South American folk to classical sounds, will animate with acrobats, fire-eaters, and puppeteers the two highly anticipated stops in the heart of Valle d’Itria, organized across different locations scattered in the historic centers of the two cities: eight in Ceglie Messapica (Piazza Sant’Antonio, Piazza Plebiscito, cloister of the Med Cooking School, Chiesa Matrice, Largo Ognissanti, Piazza Vecchia, Largo Monterrone, and Maac Museum), ten in Martina Franca (Piazzetta Sant’Eligio, Corso Italia, Piazza XX Settembre, Piazza Roma, Largo San Giovanni, Piazza Plebiscito, Piazza Immacolata, Largo San Pietro, Cloister of San Domenico, and Piazzetta Stabile).

**Artists from thirteen countries** (United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Argentina, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Congo, and Italy) will be guests, among whom stand out some leading figures of "world music." Nearly 140 performances are scheduled on rotation over four days. Among the most awaited artists are the British Cosmic Sausages, an acoustic street band that combines folk music with eccentric humor in a unique performance. Then, the German band Tanga Elektra, an electro-soul band from Berlin composed of brothers David and Elias Engler, violinist and effects wizard the former, drummer the latter, in addition to the world music multinational Yampapaya Tribe, an ethnic group founded by American David James Hoffman, offering an explosive performance with Senegalese, Congolese, Brazilian, and Italian musicians.

Among other protagonists, Argentine guitarist Mateo Saralegui, who blends South American folklore with jazz and classical music, the ensemble from Zimbabwe, Insingizi, which preserves the African vocal style 'mboube, the song of Zulu workers made famous by Paul Simon in the album "Graceland", and the Crazy Pony, a duo based in Switzerland specializing in bluegrass and composed of English banjo virtuoso Frank Powlesland and Swiss double bassist Léa Rovero, the Riciclato Circo Musicale, a folk-rock formation that uses recycled materials and everyday objects to create musical instruments, totally invented and inspired by traditional instruments, just like the Psycodrummers, who will instead play exclusively self-produced percussion.

The musical offerings range across genres, from the South American sounds of Marben and Mariachis Tequileros, a group formed by Venezuelan, Mexican, Peruvian, and Italian musicians, to the Irish music of the Strawboys, from the reggae of the Baresi Rhomanife and Triangle Roots to the rockabilly of the Ol’Boogies, from the folk-rock of the Tuscans LOccasione to the classical sounds of Venezuelan cellist Andrea Cellolo and the duo composed of harpist Maria Grassi and violinist Cristina Ciura. Furthermore, the Conturband, the trio Folksongs, the group of Salento pop music Provvisorio popolare, the Jazzati, and the Overswing will all be performing, while the performing and figurative arts will be dominated by magician Daigoro, puppeteer Alex Piras, fire-eater Simone Antonaci, and acrobat Gali, with his upside-down show.

🌍 La Ghironda 2025
🎶 Festival of Art and Popular Culture from the 5 Continents
📅 Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7, 2025
📍 Historic Center of Martina Franca (TA)