MIMO FESTIVAL: A GLOBAL STAGE WHERE CULTURE BELONGS TO EVERYONE

Founded 21 years ago in Brazil, MIMO Festival turns music into a bridge between cultures and generations — a journey that has taken it across stages in Europe as well. With 61 editions held in 14 cities, the festival has already drawn more than two million people passionate about art and sound expressions from around the globe. Always with free admission, MIMO offers a transformative and accessible experience that goes beyond the stage. It inhabits cities of historical value, turning streets, squares, churches, museums, and unique spaces — typical, unusual, or nearly secret — into open-air venues for multiple artistic expressions, from music to cinema, from debates to workshops that celebrate cultural diversity in all its power.

MIMO transcends the traditional festival format — that is its great distinction. Historic spaces gain new life as settings for contemporary creations. In this encounter between past and present, it preserves cultural memory, fosters urban creativity, and transforms music into a tool for inclusion, learning, and discovery. Multigenre by nature, it bridges tradition and avant-garde, combines popular and classical languages, and makes room for original sounds and unconventional proposals — offering the audience discoveries that would be hard to find outside this experience. At MIMO, music is what connects us; culture, what transforms us.

Born in Olinda, MIMO Festival has followed an impressive and bold path through cities like Recife, João Pessoa, Ouro Preto, Paraty, Tiradentes, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Itabira, Serra, and São Francisco do Sul. In 2016, it began its international journey with editions in Amarante, Portugal — a landmark in the festival’s expansion beyond Brazilian borders. The following year, it arrived in the UK, bringing its program to Glasgow, Scotland. In 2025, MIMO will take another significant step by becoming a partner of Jazz in Marciac — one of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals — within the Brazil-France Cross-Season / Saison Croisée France-Brésil 2025. This partnership strengthens MIMO’s international presence and establishes it as a high-level platform for artistic and cultural exchange, while preserving the Brazilian essence from which it was born.

Nearly four thousand musicians have performed at MIMO Festival, delivering more than 600 memorable concerts that have left their mark on generations. Among the names featured in its lineups are Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Buena Vista Social Club, Chick Corea, Egberto Gismonti, Philip Glass, Tom Zé, Salif Keita, Gilberto Gil, Teresa Salgueiro, Maria João Pires, Richard Bona, Emir Kusturica, Oumou Sangaré, Jacob Collier, Richard Galliano, Rui Veloso, Mayra Andrade, McCoy Tyner, Hermeto Pascoal, Goran Bregović, Hamilton de Holanda, and Ibrahim Maalouf. Beyond performances, artists also share their experiences through film screenings, workshops, and debates — broadening the reach and deepening cultural exchange with the public.

MIMO is a singular presence in the global cultural landscape for its ability to decentralize culture and deliver, free of charge, a high-quality program to cities often outside major cultural circuits. It boosts local and regional economies, stimulates tourism, and strengthens the bond between communities and their own cultural identity, promoting access and inclusion.

The existence and continuity of MIMO Festival are only possible thanks to partnerships that are sensitive to its concept and committed to access to culture. Whether public institutions or private entities, these partners recognize the transformative power of the arts and make it possible to bring impactful, free, and inclusive programming to a wide range of territories.

“Creating a free festival of this scale in today’s world is a true act of resistance and commitment to culture. We believe in art as a tool for social transformation — and that is what drives us to keep moving forward, with the same passion as ever.”
— Lu Araújo, founder and director of MIMO Festival