Helena Jornet Finques at the 64th Porta Ferrada Occident Festival

More than fifty concerts, the return of the Espai Port and the new Village Estrella Damm in the Jardins del Monestir

Once again this year, Helena Jornet Finques has sponsored the Porta Ferrada Festival in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, the oldest festival in Catalonia and one of the leading cultural events on the Costa Brava. The 64th edition of the Porta Ferrada Occident, with Barcelona Events Musicals as its new management company, filled the town with music throughout July and August with some fifty concerts and marked the start of a new chapter with the same soul as ever: Albert Mallol, artistic director for almost forty years, remained at the helm of the programme.

It has been a year of change and good news for the town. The Espai Port hosted concerts again after the repair works on the harbour embankment, and the Jardins del Monestir (the monastery gardens) welcomed the new Village Estrella Damm, a meeting point with free concerts and activities that was also the venue for our #JornetFest.

Added to these were the new Patis i Jardins cycle, bringing live music to heritage spaces around the town; La Festassa, a "zero-kilometre" programme devoted to Catalan talent; and the electronic night Delirium Costa Brava Edition, which closed the festival at the Guíxols Arena and the Sala Las Vegas.

The Guíxols Arena and the Espai Port welcomed The Corrs, Mónica Naranjo, David Bisbal, Rigoberta Bandini, Sopa de Cabra, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Snarky Puppy, Benjamin Clementine, Angus & Julia Stone, Los Delinqüentes, Soleá Morente, Maria Arnal, Clara Peya and Júlia Colom, among many others. A diverse, high-quality line-up ranging from pop and rock to jazz, flamenco and roots music.

Classical music and more intimate formats also had their place, with Jordi Savall, Europa Galante performing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, and Marc Parrot with the Quartet Brossa, at the Monestir and the Teatre Auditori Narcís Masferrer.

For Helena Jornet Finques, standing alongside the Porta Ferrada Festival is a way of supporting culture and the people of our home town, and of backing a model of town in which culture drives social wellbeing and economic growth for Sant Feliu de Guíxols and the whole of the Costa Brava. Congratulations to the entire festival team on this year of transition, and here's to the 65th!