Mobo, when talent grows culture

The first takeaway from the organization's announcement that Mobo is ending is that nothing lasts forever. Especially not if it's good. The festival, which a group of young people decided to launch in 2017, had achieved an extraordinary level of success and was a benchmark for quality music. It wasn't just one of those events held to assert ourselves and say that local things, in this case music, are doing well. It was doing well. And it was doing well because Mobofest was able to believe in the music produced in the Canary Islands, which, as it turns out, is of exceptional quality today. But someone had to do it and program it. In a place where a mix of provincialism and self-loathing often leads us to undervalue local initiatives, music, productions, and everything local, Mobofest has demonstrated over the years that the island scene is brimming with talent.

A non-profit organization, a group of very talented young people, and a well-balanced project that relied primarily on bar sales and some modest contributions from public institutions. In short, an exemplary model that also championed the value of the land and art, and avoided overcrowding. There's still one edition left, and perhaps we can hope the organizers will reconsider. But we must be self-critical. At festivals that receive 10 or 20 times more public funding than Mobo, local bands play at 6 PM in 35-degree heat just to meet the subsidy requirements. Because we continue to think and accept that only good things come from elsewhere. There have to be Mobo and Mallorca Live, because they are both good events. But if I have to choose where my taxes go, it's clear.