Costa Rica prepares for a blast of music: its first-ever Nrml Festival

The Nrml Festival is coming to Costa Rica for the first time.

Organized by Epicentro, a Costa Rican musical platform for the promotion of original and alternative music created last year, Nrml will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Centro de Eventos Pedregal in San Antonio de Belén, Heredia. The Nrmal Festival has been taking place annually in Mexico since 2010, and has become an important way for emerging Latin American artists to gain traction.

Costa Rica is the first country outside of Mexico to host this musical phenomenon, and the Costa Rican bands Las Robertas, Monte, Ave Negra and 424, as well as Mexican duo Shiro Schwarz, all of whom have participated in previous Nrml editions in Mexico, recently announced the lineup. During the conference, Ave Negra members spoke about the environment of accessibility and freedom that characterizes Nrml, felt by both the musicians and the audience.

The first artists announced by Shiro Schwarz were Costa Rican musicians Raido and The Wiesengrund Project. Raido’s music consists of a rich combination of experimental electronica, funk and hip hop. The Wiesengrund Project, carried out by Sergio Wiesengrund, is an experimental music project that explores the drone, shoegaze, post-metal, and electro acoustic genres. Wiesengrund won the 2013 National Music Composition Aquileo J. Echeverría award.

Monte then announced two other performing artists: Venezuela’s Algodón Egipcio and Ecuador’s Helado Negro. Algodón Egipcio is defined by its distinct sound with the blending of shoegaze and folk. Helado Negro’s experimental electronica pop ballads will make you want to dance slowly to splendid Latin rhythms.

Other artists will include legendary U.S. rock band The SONICS, with garage rock roots from the 1960s; Costa Rican electro acoustic music group aUTOPerro, which uses both analog and digital synthesizers, live amplification and distortion; Chilean artist Gepe, who will offer a mixture of folk, pop, and experimental music; underground Mexican artist AAAA, techno and experimental electronica; Puerto Rican, Brooklyn-based duo Buscabulla; and Costa Rican artist Hijos, who blends pop, experimental rock and trip hop.

For more information, visit Nrmal Festival’s Facebook page or website.