Overview of Cultural Events Across Alicante and Nearby Museums
In recent days, the Old Town has seen gatherings around the Alicante Water Museum and the historic Pozos de Garrigós, a 19th‑century cistern system that also houses a remarkable acoustic space. Weekend programs featured an audio meditation on Saturday the 20th, weaving together a variety of instruments to foster a focused, tranquil environment for participants. On Sunday the 21st, a water‑themed movement journey called Inner Dance encouraged musicality and body expression, reconnecting attendees with the essentials of presence and motion.
The Ocean Race Museum drew a sizable crowd, with more than 700 participants over May 19–21. As the world’s only museum dedicated to the sport of sailing, it offered children’s workshops, yoga stories, and free guided tours, drawing about 350 visitors on a typical day. The activities highlighted sustainability within the world’s longest and most demanding sailing race, whose fleet was heading toward Aarhus, Denmark, at the time. [Citation: Ocean Race Museum program notes]
MACA, the Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art, presented a wide array of activity ideas for the weekend, attracting 1,227 visitors. The schedule included artist talks with Elena Asins in dialogue with Eusebio Sempere, a food and conversation session with vermouth for the public, and an afternoon birthday celebration for the late Sempere featuring a family workshop and a community snack. The day concluded with MACA Live, an open‑body dance session in which Elías Aguirre and Jorge da Rocha performed improvised movement alongside visiting participants. Sunday brought the memorable Hello, we are here! moment—an offer to view a temporary Elena Asins exhibition, followed by the premiere of a piece by Elias Aguirre titled This is Alfred. The day closed with a performance in the box and a collaborative, kinetic intervention by a group known as Big Words. The event drew extensive public participation around the museum’s spaces. [Citation: MACA records]
The weekend also saw strong attendance at the MARQ, the MARQ Foundation reporting a total of 5,336 visitors over open days. Alicante Archaeological Museum MARQ hosted 4,884 visitors, with 158 visiting the Lucentum exhibit and 253 visiting the Campello collection. The Almohad fortress at Almudaina hosted small dramatized visits and family workshops, including games and activities centered on the Chinese alphabet. The exhibition Legacy of the Qin and Han Dynasty, and the Xi’an Warriors, complemented the permanent displays in the new hall opened since May 18. A special display, Princess of the Carpathians, highlighted an extraordinary Argaric tomb from San Antón in Orihuela. [Citation: MARQ activities summary]
In total, 1,100 visitors chose exhibitions linked to the Museo DIM initiative. Mubag, the Alicante Fine Arts Museum, offered guided routes through current exhibits and dramatized programs focused on the DIM theme Museums, Sustainability, and Well‑Being. The DIM reception drew more than 200 attendees, with guided passages for temporary exhibitions Sorolla and Valencian painting of his era and Dialogues and Contradictions: Art as Inspiration. The Sara Navarro collections were on view, and dramatized itineraries guided visitors through the permanent XIX‑century collection illuminated by the paths of the later era. A four‑group exploration of the future inspired stage scenes, and screen printing workshops for families produced messages about ecology in a post‑card format using Daguten Neighborhood Graphic School techniques. [Citation: Mubag program notes]
El Las Cigarreras Cultural Center showcased City Tactics 2023 Urban Culture Festival with 1,500 participants who enjoyed live music, documentaries, round tables, a market area, graffiti, and workshops. HE MUSA, the Alicante City Museum, expanded DIM 2023 with a Saturday program featuring a tower visit and a concert by a cello duo performing Baroque pieces from the 18th century, attracting about 75 attendees. The flow of visitors on Thursday and Friday included government conferences and a robust arts program. The Alicante Cultural Institute Juan Gil Albert hosted Jesús Tarruella’s photography exhibition Where Silence Lives, alongside Sorolla remembrance talks curated to align with the centenary of the painter’s death. A Sorolla cycle featured discussions with Luminaries like Luís Alberto Pérez Velarde and Rafael Altamira, connecting exhibitions in Valencia and Madrid with this event series. [Citation: City cultural calendar notes]
HE MUA, the University Museum of Alicante, ran an intense schedule from Thursday through Sunday. The Friday afternoon DIM celebration capped a weekend of educational workshops led by faculty and students, focused on creative recycling, collaborative murals, yoga sessions, and related projects. The program extended to guided visits, art therapy, and a theatrical production centered on the exhibition multiple identities. In total, around 380 participants joined these DIM activities. [Citation: MUA DIM report]
New Tabarca Museum hosted 76 participants for DIM 2023. A camera‑based tour of the audio‑visual room and two micro‑theatre screenings near the museum perimeter offered cultural storytelling, followed by a tracked evening tour of the Tabarca fortress titled Myth and Legends, organized with the Tabarca Cultural Association. [Citation: Tabarca Museum schedule]
The IMD commemoration unfolds around May 18 each year, with the 2023 theme, Museums, Sustainability, and Well‑Being. This focus places environmental health, visitor welfare, and staff well‑being at the center of museum programming, encouraging sustainability initiatives that benefit communities while preserving cultural heritage. [Citation: IMD overview]