Sines, Portugal - The 5th edition of Festival Músicas do Mundo (World Music Festival) 2003, will take place in Sines’ Castle (Portugal) July 24-26. The festival, which takes place since 1999 inside the walls of the old castle, presents on July 26th (Saturday), the Kronos Quartet, the most famous string quartet in the world, commemorating its 30th birthday this year.

The group has been regarded as revolutionary because of the way it has bridged both the repertoires and audiences of classical and popular music (including jazz and world music).

The Kronos Quartet opens the last of the FMM2003 evenings, followed by the French Kad Achouri and The Skatalites, the founders fathers of ska rhythm and of all contemporary Jamaican music. The Skatalites will end the Festival itself, as usual, under an uproar of dazzling fireworks.

The Festival begins the July 24th (Thursday) with Portugal and Cape Verde. The opening concert will be fulfilled with the harmonic games of Danças Ocultas quartet, which has decided to give a new character to diatonic accordion in the Portuguese modern music production. Simentera, Cape Verde’s most representative group in the international world music circuit nowadays, closes the first night.

The July 25th (Friday) program includes the performance of Mahwash & Ensemble Kabul (Afghanistan), 2003 winners for Asia / Pacific category in BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. They will be followed by Mahotella Queens, the historic vocal trio from South Africa, and Totonho & Os Cabra, a Brazilian band that mixes the rural rhythms of "Nordeste" region with hip hop and electronics.

Festival Músicas do Mundo (World Music Festival) is organized by Sines' City Hall. The Festival, in its past four years life, has already entertained inside the walls of the old Castle, believed to be the birthplace of navigator Vasco da Gama, more than 40,000 people.

Official site: www.fmm.com.pt