The Concert for Freedom was a concert held at

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

football stadium in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 29 June 2013, organized by

Òmnium Cultural Òmnium Cultural () is a Spanish association based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture. Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political i ...

in conjunction with other civil society organization such as the Assemblea Nacional Catalana and the Plataforma Pro Seleccions Esportives Catalanes with the goal using the universal language of music to demand the right of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and other nations of the world to freely and democratically decide their future. Some 90,000 people were in attendance. Between the 2012 Catalan independence demonstration and the Catalan Way, the concert was another social mobilization event in favor of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. More than 400 artists performed, among them Lluís Llach, Sopa de Cabra, Miquel Gil, Pastora, Joana Serrat, Jofre Bardagí, Jordi Batiste, Lídia Pujol,

Maria del Mar Bonet Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer (Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma de Mallorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca. Early life and career Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself ...

, Marina Rossell, Mercedes Peón, Nena Venetsanou, Orfeó Català, Paco Ibáñez, Pascal Comelade, Pau Alabajos, Pep Sala, Peret, Projecte Mut, Sabor de Gràcia, Ferran Piqué, Joan Enric Barceló & Eduard Costa from Els Amics de les Arts, and Brams. The artistic directors were Gerard Quintana and Lluís Danés, who was in charge of

set design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

. The stage featured various steps symbolizing the path toward

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

. Also present at Camp Nou were nine members of the Catalan government and representatives from the majority of Catalan political parties that support Catalonia's right to self-determination. Muriel Casals, the president of

, gave a speech affirming that "Catalonia's independence movement is not against anyone or anything" and requesting that politicians not delay the process toward a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

Background

Concert tickets went on sale on Monday, 3 June and almost all (60,000) were sold the same day, with online wait times to purchase tickets that exceeded six hours. This caused the organization to initially freeze ticket sales and then release 30,000 tickets for sale on the 17th, though these were for seats at the south goal post of the stadium, behind the stage. When the singer Dyango announced his participation in the Concert for Freedom, some Spaniards were outraged. Dyango was not intimidated by the attitudes of the hosts on 13 TV, an ecclesiastic television channel that is one of the stalwarts of Spanish nationalism, in the face of his support for

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

. He affirmed that the current goal is to hold a Catalan referendum, and ultimately achieve full separation from Spain. Peret also denounced pressure and threats he has received for participating in the concert. Singer-songwriter from the Canary Islands, Pedro Guerra, cancelled his participation in the concert alleging that the event had veered toward "purely separatist motivations that he doesn't share" and that "this is not his fight," while affirming that he was not pressured into withdrawing. Singer Mayte Martín also withdrew at the last minute for similar motives.

Program

Before the concert an information fair was set up outside

and the local

Food Bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...

established collection points to benefit the needy, collecting a total of 25 tons of food. The event was divided in two halves. In the first half, various artists interpreted songs related to

and popular Catalan tunes such as "L'emigrant" (The Emigrant) sung by Peret; "Què volen aquesta gent?" (What do these people want?) sung by María del Mar Bonet and Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, and "Camins" (Paths) sung by Sopa de Cabra. The second half featured songs by Lluís Llach sung both by the artist himself and other artists such as Orfeó Català, Perros, Ramoncín, Pastora and Miquel Gil, in homage to Llach's concert at Camp Nou in 1985, remembered as a protest in supports of the rights of the Catalan nation. At halftime, the Castellers de Vilafranca orchestrated a 9 level high human tower called a ''3 de 9 amb folre'' and they played the Catalan national anthem " Els segadors," while forming a giant mosaic reading "Freedom Catalonia 2014." During the first half, readings were performed between songs by Cristina Plazas, Anna Sahun, Bonaventura Clotet, Manel Esteller, Miquel Casas, Pere Joan Cardona, Alícia Casals, Isona Passola, Ventura Pons, Joel Joan, Jordi Díaz, Josep Pedrals, Lluís Soler, Màrius Serra, Matthew Tree, Montserrat Carulla, Núria Feliu, Quim Masferrer, Roger Coma and Sílvia Bel. Readings were written by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, Dolors Miquel, Enric Casasses,

Jacint Verdaguer Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló (; 17 May 1845 – 10 June 1902) was a Catalan writer, regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a cultural revival movement of the late Rom ...

La veu del Montseny
, Joan Margarit, Joana Raspall
El vell vestit
, Maria Àngels Anglada, Marià Villangómez, Miquel Martí i Pol, Montserrat Abelló, Salvador Espriu
El meu poble i jo
, Vicent Andrés Estellés, Joan Brossa, Josep Maria de Sagarra
La campana de Sant Honorat
.

International reception

The Concert for Freedom was covered by several international media agencies (such as

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

and The Associated Press) and various newspapers, television and radio stations from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, etc. One of the most talked-about images from the event by the media was the mosaic that unfolded in the stands during the playing of the national anthem of Catalonia. Among the articles covering the event were: *

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

(France): Un stade sang et or pour l'indépendace de la Catalogne (Blood- and Gold-Colored Stadium for Catalan Independence) * L'Indépendant (France)
Grand concert pour l'indépendance catalane ce samedi soir au Camp Nou avec Lluis Llach
(Huge Concert for Catalan Independence Saturday at Camp Nou with Lluís Llach) *

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...

References

External links

Webpage of the event

Webpage of Òmnium Cultural

Webpage of Assemblea Nacional Catalana

Dossier especial sobre el Concert per la Llibertat a Vilaweb
; Important Videos
Cinc hores de concert, condensades en quinze minuts

El vídeo dels Segadors i el mosaic per la independència al Camp Nou

Parlament de Muriel Casals

Lluís Llach - "Venim del nord, venim del sud"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concert for Freedom 2013 concerts Catalan independence movement 2013 in Catalonia