Festival Nómade: A Celebration of Music, Art and Sustainability in the Chilean Wilderness

By 20 January, 2016

There are few festivals quite like Festival Nómade. From Wednesday 10th until Monday 15th February this year the festival will be making its base at the Manquemapu coastal reserve in the Los Lagos region of Southern Chile. Part of the biologically-diverse and protected Williche Mapu Lahual reserve, and home to many indigenous communities, the festival will feature some of the most cutting-edge electronic musicians in Latin America, alongside folk musicians, art and sustainability workshops, opportunities to discover the traditions and of the indigenous communities, as well as the clear fact that you will be in one of the most beautiful and undisturbed locations you could imagine in Latin America.

Just to highlight how out of the way this festival is, it will take a good 10km trek to reach the festival, even after you’ve got a bus to the south of Chile (which is some way from the capital, Santiago!) Here’s how Festival Nómade describes itself on its website:

“Festival Nómade is a travelling assembly that combines music, art, sustainable tourism and permaculture. It’s a new manifestation of cultural exchange and access to ancestral customs of the Williche people. The festival aims to develop ethno-­tourism in isolated areas.”

For instance, one of the ways in which you will find out about ancestral customs is by exploring the Temazcales, which are houses of purification originating from prehistoric Mexico and represent the maternal belly of Tinantzn tlalli, our mother earth. The festival will showcase rituals in these houses where volcanic rocks are heated along with infusions to purify the body.

Then there is the music to look forward to, that includes artists such as La Yegros, King Coya, Chancha Via Circuito, Matanza and Sidirum, to name just a few of the artists who will be performing. Here’s a mixtape below from Chancha Via Circuito, made especially for the festival:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/242638186″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Find out more about Festival Nómade at festivalnomade.cl


Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.

Share: