Over 50 musicians perform at Mamakabo-2009 festival

Over 50 famous musicians and bands participated in the Mamakabo-2009 international festival in the Kaluga Region southwest of Moscow over the weekend.

MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - Over 50 famous musicians and bands participated in the Mamakabo-2009 international festival in the Kaluga Region southwest of Moscow over the weekend, a regional official said on Monday.

The music and art festival was created in 2004 by well-known musicians in the memory of Andrei Baranov, a musician and composer who had died in a car accident the year before.

Baranov’s one and only album was titled Mamakabo, a greeting in the local dialect on the idyllic Caribbean island of Providencia. Usually translated as “good afternoon,” the word carries a sense of the pleasure of meeting a friend, expressing the affection and love that people share.
Kaluga’s culture minister said it was the first time in the six years of the festival it had been held in the region.

“I hope that in the coming years it will be held here,” Alexander Tipakov said.

Festival organizer Timur Vedernikov thanked the Kaluga authorities for their support, and emphasized the broad-ranging nature of the festival.

“Professionalism is the indisputable requirement for participation in the festival. The next requirement is positive and bright music. The third is the presence of all kinds of art: theater, music, photography, fine art and children’s activities,” he said.

“This is a big art festival, with music at its head as the best mass medium for people to communicate.”

Musicians from Russia, Italy, Britain, Australia, Nigeria and Brazil performed at the festival, which unites a wide variety of musicians in a unique musical and social setting.