“For me, this is an emblematic city. It’s home to one of the greatest guitarists of all time…”- Paco de Lucía (about Pamplona and the master, Sabicas).

While the roots of flamenco are in southern Spain – Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura – Navarra has also played a part in the history of the genre, as Pamplona is home to one of the most admired and respected flamenco artists to conquer the world with his art: Agustín Castellón Campos, the master Sabicas (Pamplona, ​​1912 – New York, 1990).

Sabicas was a self-taught virtuoso who triumphed on stages all over Spain from his childhood. In 1937, he travelled to Argentina as part of a flamenco company and it wasn’t until thirty years later that he returned to Spain for the first time (always short visits for professional reasons). After a long tour in the company of Carmen Amaya which lasted several years and in which Sabicas triumphed at the top venues in Latin America, the USA and Canada, in 1947 he settled in Mexico and a few years later, in 1955, he moved to New York, where he lived until the end of his days.

From here on, the master Sabicas developed a highly successful solo career in the U.S., where he published dozens of albums, going on to become the ambassador for flamenco worldwide and greatly influence both his contemporaries and future generations of guitarists.

The FLAMENCO ON FIRE festival therefore aims to celebrate his memory and value his heritage, bringing flamenco art to new audiences from northern Spain and other origins, through the magnitude of the artist. Its first edition will be held from the 26th to the 31st of August and will bring together some of the leading exponents of modern flamenco – Sara Baras, José Mercé, Estrella Morente, Niña Pastori, Tomatito, Pepe Habichuela, Josemi Carmona and Arcángel, among others – situating Pamplona as the Flamenco Capital of northern Spain.

But FLAMENCO ON FIRE is much more than music. The Festival includes in its program the Conference on Pamplona Flamenco Art (conferences, workshops, exhibitions and projection of documentaries) and the gastronomic route El Pincho de Sabicas, in which some of the best restaurateurs of the city will participate, elaborating a special snack inspired by the Master.

And in representation of flamenco’s journey northwards, the Festival has commissioned painter Mon Montoya, who, based on this idea and taking inspiration from ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino, has created a marvellous work of art that reinterprets the destination of that journey: Pamplona.