20 YEARS CELEBRATING MUSIC AND CULTURE

Twenty years of history, with 60 editions, in more than 12 cities in Brazil and Europe, attended by an audience of more than 2 million people eager to hear or discover the best of national and world music. Always with free admission, this is MIMO Festival.

An event whose main goal is to provide artistic freedom, free of handcuffs, valuing memory and bringing sound innovation. It has carried out more than 500 concerts in more than five thousand hours of music, always seeking to occupy the historical and natural heritage venues of the cities where we are, maintaining musical quality as a reference.

About four thousand musicians have already been at the festival, in memorable concerts, and by great artists, such as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Gilberto Gil, Buena Vista Social Club, Tom Zé, Hermeto Pascoal, Emicida, BaianaSystem, Salif Keita, Egberto Gismonti, Didier Lockwood, Amadou and Mariam, Madredeus, Ibrahim Maalouf, Criolo, Toninho Horta, Elza Soares, Chucho Valdés, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Jards Macalé, Baby do Brasil, Emir Kusturica, Richard Bona, Egberto Gismonti, Oumou Sangare, Teresa Salgueiro, Liniker com as Baias e a Cozinha Mineira, Richard Galliano, Guinga, João Bosco, Hamilton de Holanda, Isaac Karabtchevsky, and Nelson Freire, among musicians from all over the world. International attractions, now established, were highlighted in MIMO, such as the British multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, the trumpeter Ibrahim Maallouf, and the Londoner Ala.Ni. At the festival, artists can be seen in many ways, not only at stage, but also on cinema screens, in workshops, and in the Forum of Ideas, exchanging experiences with the audience.

The event has already had unforgettable editions far beyond the famous hills of Olinda, which hosted its first edition. Ouro Preto and Tiradentes (Minas Gerais), Paraty (Rio de Janeiro), Recife (Pernambuco), João Pessoa (Paraíba), São Paulo, Serra (Espírito Santo), São Francisco do Sul (Santa Catarina), and Rio de Janeiro have already hosted the festival. In addition to the Brazilian historical cities, the festival is being held since 2016 in Portugal, and has passed through cities such as Amarante and Porto. In 2017, MIMO dedicated the edition with the lineup composed only by women (including transsexual), showing the avant-garde tone of the festival, recognized for bringing to the audience world famous artists, and others who are often unknown to the public. In the 2015 edition, the singer Iza, for example, gave a performance at the Forte Defensor Perpétuo, in Paraty, where she sang jazz and MPB classics. The MIMO Music Award revealed talents that today are acclaimed artists, such as guitarist João Camarero, a member of Maria Bethânia's band, and names such as pianists Amaro Freitas and Antonio Guerra.

The celebration of the 20 years took place in 2023 with concerts in historical and natural heritage venues, Rain of Poetry, and other educational actions, providing an interactivity between artists and the audience, since the exchange of experiences has always been a proposal of MIMO. More than 30,000 students were benefited in the Educational Stage of the festival, with about 600 hours of classes.

"It is a challenge and a huge pleasure to carry out each edition of MIMO, because, in addition to the important collaboration of the sponsors, it takes a lot of dedication and assertiveness. Maintaining a free event with this artistic quality, offering what is most interesting in the music scene of Brazil and the world today – whether new trends or acclaimed artists - requires perseverance and a lot of sweat, mine and that of the whole team. I can only say that I love what I do, and that it is very invigorating to see the result: how the audience pulses, reacts and is affected by the unique energy that only MIMO provides", says Lu Araújo, creator and director of MIMO Festival.