FLAMENCO FESTIVAL NYC
PERFORMING ARTS
Flamenco Festival New York returns for its 25th anniversary
Compañía Eva Yerbabuena will perform at New York City Center. Photo Marcos Gpunto / Courtesy of Flamenco Festival.
Flamenco Festival New York has returned, marking 25 years of bringing flamenco to major venues across the city and reaffirming its role as the leading global platform dedicated to the art form.
NEW YORK CITY | By Pablo Herrera
Running from February 25 to March 8, this year’s edition brings together established masters and contemporary voices across multiple venues, continuing a legacy that has connected flamenco with New York audiences for more than two decades.
TMN attended the festival’s inaugural evening at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan, where Spanish singer Rocío Márquez opened this year’s program. Performing alongside her guitarist, Márquez delivered a deeply intimate and emotionally charged set, her voice moving effortlessly between fragility and force. The performance unfolded with a sense of precision and openness, holding the room in complete stillness and reaffirming flamenco’s power as a living, evolving form.
Rocío Márquez performing at Flamenco Festival New York. Video Pablo Herrera / TMN®
Following the concert, TMN® had the opportunity to speak with Flamenco Festival founder and director Miguel Marín about the origins of the festival and its evolution over the past 25 years.
Founded in 2001, Flamenco Festival emerged from a simple but ambitious vision.
“I was living in New York and studying here in 1998, and there was barely any flamenco,” Marín told TMN. “I wanted Spanish artists to have a presence here, and I started with a small festival in 2001. The idea was to show the diversity of flamenco and what was being created at that moment.”
What began as a modest initiative has since evolved into the world’s most important international flamenco platform. Today, the festival reaches more than 1.6 million people annually and has presented over 1,400 performances across 116 cities, including major cultural venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York City Center, and the Sydney Opera House.
New York has played a central role in that evolution.
Alfonso Losa will perform at New York City Center. Photo Beatrix Molnat / Courtesy of Flamenco Festival.
“This year is very special because we also want to honor the pioneers who ignited the flame of flamenco in New York more than 140 years ago,” Marín explains. “There is a long love story between flamenco and New York. The city has given so much to flamenco and helped it evolve.”
That relationship continues to shape the festival’s identity. Flamenco Festival operates with a dual commitment: honoring tradition while presenting contemporary innovation.
From legendary figures such as Paco de Lucía and Enrique Morente to contemporary artists redefining the genre today, the festival has consistently provided a platform where flamenco exists as a living, evolving art form.
Building the festival has not been without challenges. The project faced major uncertainty early on, including its second edition taking place in the aftermath of September 11.
“When you start a project, you have to follow your intuition,” Marín told TMN. “You have to continue and not stop at the first obstacle. Obstacles can be transformed into opportunities.”
Compañía Manuel Liñán will perform at New York City Center. Photo Marcos Gpunto / Courtesy of Flamenco Festival.
That philosophy has guided Flamenco Festival’s growth into an international benchmark for Spanish cultural presentation, with major editions in both New York and London.
At its core, the festival exists to create connection — between artists and audiences, between tradition and experimentation, and between cultures across borders.
For Marín, the guiding principle remains simple.
“If you feel enthusiasm for something, you have to go for it,” he says. “You have to listen to your inner voice and flow with it. That’s what allows doors to open.”
TMN® is covering Flamenco Festival New York as part of its ongoing cultural coverage documenting artists and institutions shaping today’s global creative landscape.
Additional performances and coverage from this year’s festival will be published in the coming days. Become a member to access full coverage.
Patricia Guerrero will perform at New York City Center. Photo Pablo Lorente / Courtesy of Flamenco Festival.
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