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Dear friends, it is with great pleasure and joy that we receive all
the participants in the 1st edition of the International Song Festival
of Serra da Estrela.
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Finally we arrived at
the moment in which we concrete an old dream, to see in Portugal an international
song Festival - in a model that has made its way in many European countries
(and not only in Europe), but did not exist in our country yet. A competitive
Festival, directed for children and young people, which during four days will
bring a new movement and color to Seia streets and to other places in Serra da
Estrela. And with a strong international participation.
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Approaching this moment of truth - four days that follow intense months
of preparation - we want to mark and recognize the role and the proactive
action of an entity without which it would not be possible to materialize
this event: the Municipality of Seia.
We also want to thank the support and assistance we have received from
various organizations and companies who gave us the honor of being associated
with this Festival.
In this first edition of FICSE, we received more than fifty entries.
Curiously, approximately half of the competitors are Portuguese, the other
half are foreigners coming from 12 countries, from neighboring Spain to far
Kazakhstan.
The Festival that is now beginning is not limited to musical performances
(though that is its main vector). It also includes an extensive social program,
providing to the many dozens of people who visit Seia in this last week of
August a series of visits and excursions to places of tourist and cultural
interest in the region of Serra da Estrela - a program chosen especially in
the perspective of children and youth, but that will surely interest the adults
who are accompanying them.
This is the first edition of a festival we want to accomplish every year,
always in the last week of August. To the singers who during four days will
perform in the stage of Municipal House of Culture, to the relatives and music
and vocal teachers who accompanying them, our thank for your presence in this
event. Enjoy your staying and the healthy competition that these four days will
provide. And those who are "discovering" Seia and Serra da Estrela for the first
time... you will find plenty of reasons to come back...
Welcome to International Song Festival of Serra da Estrela!
Nuno Figueira
Director of the Festival
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