The second week of August Menorca has welcomed a new large-format music festival, Ukalari Live. The managers of the theater of the same name in Ciutadella, Alberto Gómez and Miriam Torres, dare to program 10 days of concerts, from David Bustamante to The Tyets and the tribute This is Michael, in a venue set up at the Sporting Maonès football field which can hold 4,000 people. These days employ about thirty people and cause the indirect creation – they estimate – of 300 more jobs. A significant leap, but they say it is controlled, compared to what they are used to at the old Calós theater, now Ukalari, where in two years they have managed to regularly fill its 575 seats and have attracted nearly 25,000 spectators.

The most interesting music festival held in the Balearic Islands since the time of the brilliant and chaotic Isladencanta is undoubtedly Mobo. Talent, musical innovation, maximum respect for local production and quality. Far from other commercial proposals, which base their lineup on artists who can draw the biggest crowds, even if, all in all, it makes no sense. Nothing to say if these massive festivals like Mallorca Live, which we have all attended when we liked an artist, also exist. They have to be there.

Celebrating friendship is what the Mobofest has done for these 10 years, since 2017, when it burst to life in a first edition at Puig de Consolació, in Sant Joan. It returns this year, from July 23 to 25, to have the last dance and close a life cycle with a very round number: a decade.

The group of companies on which the Mallorca Live brand is based, which includes, in addition to the festival, the Mallorca Live Nights and Es Jardí series, has received more than three and a half million euros from public entities in the last five years. Of these, more than two-thirds since 2023. Among the different contributions, which include sponsorships and grants, one of the most notable is that of AETIB, the Balearic Islands Tourism Strategy Agency, which since 2023 has allocated around half a million public euros to the Mallorca Live festival within the framework of a call for sponsorships for major cultural and sporting events.

At Mallorca Live, in reality, the music is secondary. This sensation, which is increasingly repeated when talking about festivals, becomes a certainty in the island case if one analyzes the financial architecture that sustains the events linked to the Mallorca Live brand. Above all, a festival that in two weeks will celebrate its ninth edition, rebranded as Mallorca Live Occident. The entry of new sponsors and partners into the new promoter La Isla & Co is the latest step in a path full of countless commercial movements that are difficult to follow and, above all, to decipher: the tip of the iceberg of a network of dozens of companies that move millions of public euros to turn culture into a financial asset.

Alcúdia once again becomes, this weekend, for the eleventh edition, a grand circus stage. From this Friday until Sunday, the municipality will host an intense program of the best shows of this discipline in its contemporary and outdoor version.

Ibiza has two operating commercial cinemas: the family-owned Regio cinema in San Antonio de Portmany, and the one known as the 'multicines' in Vila, owned by Aficine, the largest and practically only cinema exhibitor in the Balearic Islands. It's a meager showing, in line with the reduction in screens and seating capacities that has been occurring in Spain for years. Both companies are struggling to withstand the current mediocrity of Hollywood and the pressure from platforms like Netflix. On the other hand, if you start counting film festivals, you'd think Ibizans were true cinephiles: Ibicine, Ibizacinefest, Ibiza Halloween Festival, Festival Dolor de Cabeza (Headache Festival), Muestra de cortos de las fiestas de San Bartolomé (Short Film Showcase of the San Bartolomé Festival)... not to mention other festivals originating outside the island, such as MECAL Air Ib MECAL.

Young People of Mallorca for the Language has confirmed that only Manacor, Sa Pobla, Búger, and Sant Joan have complied this year with the agreement signed in 2024 to guarantee that at least 50% of the events at local festivals are in Catalan. In the summer of 2024, Young People of Mallorca for the Language signed an agreement with the Pi party, MÁS per Mallorca, the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), and other local parties to ensure a greater presence of Catalan in leisure activities and local festivals in towns governed by these parties, with a minimum of 50% of events in Catalan. This year, the organization has observed that many town councils have made no effort to comply with the agreement and that several municipalities have not programmed any Catalan-speaking artists, as explained by spokesperson Josep Buades. Buades emphasized that "the young people of these islands should be able to enjoy local festivals in their municipalities in their own language" and that "leisure activities in Catalan are key to linguistic normalization." Despite the disappointment, the organization thanks the towns that have complied with the agreement, such as Manacor, Sa Pobla, Búger, and Sant Joan. Young Mallorca for the Language argues that the pact is a "minimal agreement" and that leisure activities in Catalan should be "normal at home," lamenting that many local councils have shown very little commitment. Looking ahead to 2026, the organization is calling for a decisive effort from political parties and announces that it will implement various measures to facilitate the programming of music in Catalan by local councils, including a participatory process to create a catalog of Catalan artists, groups, and DJs to support local councils.

They received between €30,000 and €80,000 in public funds from various Balearic institutions for the 2024 editions, and yet the presence of Catalan on their social media, websites, and official media outlets was either anecdotal or nonexistent. We're talking about festivals such as the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival, which will celebrate its fourteenth edition in Palma next October, the CAN Ibiza Art Fair, and the Paco de Lucía Mallorca Festival, all of which benefited from grants such as those offered by the Institute of Balearic Studies (IEB) for the organization of these events. However, the predominant language in all of their communication channels was Spanish, followed by English.

The trend of personalized cups at festivals emerged with the intention of eliminating single-use plastics and reducing their environmental impact, but, according to the latest study by the Rezero Foundation, it has ended up becoming a new business model that contributes to pollution and environmental degradation.