The much-anticipated Nrmal Festival Costa Rica is now less than two weeks away: the event, known for promoting emerging talent, will kick off Nov. 21 at the Centro de Eventos Pedegral 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 Latin American artists to gain traction. Next week’s festival in Heredia will make Costa Rica the first country to host this festival outside of Mexico; here, Costa Rican platform Epicentro is a co-organizer.
“This is a festival that has ventured on presenting new, independent, and emerging musical talent with the purpose of encouraging people to discover new music,” Nrmal’s Moni Saldaña told The Tico Times.
The Nrmal Festival seeks to present its guests with a gastronomical experience to complement the music (more information about the lineup of bands is here).
“Epicentro’s support has enabled us to take this first step in Costa Rica. In all of Nrmal’s editions [in Mexico], Costa Rican bands have participated; Costa Rica has a very rich cultural scene,” Saldaña added. “There are amazing bands, projects, and mass media projects that we love… there are interesting things going on. Many times physical spaces are missing in which all of these people can come together.”
The festival’s name is designed to confound: when pronounced, it sounds like the world “normal,” yet when written, it is unusual.
“It’s that irony that you’re using the word normal, but it’s not the normal. Its philosophy is to take something different and create an event in which a distinct musical proposal is offered. It’s a bit about the contradictions,” Saldaña said.
This first edition has no entrance fee, but limited space. The first tickets were raffled amongst the people who registered online. Nrmal will be giving out more tickets, so those who’d like to attend should keep an eye on their website and Facebook page.
See also: Costa Rica prepares for a blast of music
Festival Nrmal takes place Nov. 21 at the Centro de Eventos Pedegral in San Antonio de Belén, Heredia. For more information visit Epicentro’s webpage or the event page on Facebook.
