28°11’17.9412” N
17°15’46.1838” O *

La población del municipio de Vallehermoso, el mayor de la Gomera, se reparte entre el casco urbano y numerosos barrios diseminados por todo el territorio municipal (Chipude, El Cercado, Alojera, La Dama, Macayo, El Ingenio, Epina, etc.). La agricultura sigue siendo uno de los pilares sobre los que pivota la actualidad económica de este municipio, siendo sus principales cultivos la vid, el plátano y los dedicados al autoconsumo como la papa, los frutales o el millo. Debemos destacar la laboriosidad de los artesanos que trabajan la penca o raquis de la palmera, los telares, la alfarería tradicional, el mimbre, la caña, la madera y la gastronomía que funde lo mejor del mar y la tierra en sus platos.

El municipio cuenta con una considerable superficie del Parque Nacional de Garajonay además de otros espacios naturales protegidos como Los Órganos, Roque Cano y La Fortaleza y El Lomo del Carretón que le otorgan un importante atractivo patrimonial.

ATLÁNTICO SONORO
The Sound of Light in La Gomera

“A cara o cruz he lanzado / a la mar una moneda; / salió cuna y nací yo: / cuna o concha es La Gomera.” In these verses, the poet García Cabrera recognizes that La Gomera is like a shield where natives have been raised with the principle of working everyday to improve and to adapt themselves to nature. All these are fundamental features that have become distinguishing characteristics of La Gomera’s people and a valuable legacy to future generations.

Atlántico Sonoro Festival has made its contribution and endeavour to support the alliance between people and nature in La Gomera for five years. It is difficult to find a better place where culture and arts offer a tribute to welfare as the unrivalled Jardín Botánico del Descubrimiento (The Botanical Gardens of the Discovery) in Vallehermoso.

In Atlántico Sonoro Festival senses achieve an outstanding importance: the programme has been designed to lead visitors throughout a route where music and light set up an alliance to develop their expectations.

La Gomera is an island that has its roots marked with the labour performed by land workers for years. The environment of the Jardín Botánico del Descubrimiento becomes a very special place where the relationship between people and nature is recalled through enthralling and appealing activities. Along the enclosure, the visitor will be able to experience different techniques like shiatsu, regenerative therapies, Thai massages, cranial massages and aromatherapy. Moreover, the garden becomes a place to share with each other since some of these activities are carried out among large groups of people.

The Jardín Botánico del Descubrimiento includes a greenhouse and lath houses with orchids and many other exotic species, several balconies with America and the European vegetation that includes Canarian species, and a two-level building equipped with a cafeteria and exhibition halls. It is located midway the town centre and the Parque Marítimo next to the channel of Vallerhermoso’s ravine. This outstanding place is located in a rural environment with cultivation fields, palm trees and savins spread throughout the valley dominated by the Roque Cano (Rock Cano).

During the night, as waves approach the beach trying to reach the ravine, Atlántico Sonoro hosts some music gigs. La Gomera has ravines that echo the sound of people’s voices and music but it does not compete with the silence of Vallehermoso. Music gigs take advantage of the calm darkness of the environment.

This year, the Roque Cano will witness a tribute. Atlántico Sonoro wants to highlight that La Gomera is the birthplace of eminent men and women who have contributed with their wisdom, passion and beauty to our culture. The Government of the Canary Islands, through the Canaries Award and Gold Medal, has acknowledged the professional and vital trajectory of some people who were born in La Gomera. Hence, this year the contributions of Isidro Ortiz (Canaries Award to Traditional Culture 2009), Conchita Trujillo, Juan Ramón Hernández, Gumersindo Trujillo and Pedro García Cabrera (Canaries Gold Medal of 2008, 2006, 2002 and 1997 respectively) will be acknowledged.

Atlántico Sonoro is a festival adapted to a way of living that has turned La Gomera into a privileged place. This cultural appointment wishes to symbolize the relationship between tradition and modernity throughout the respect of customs. For five years, Atlántico Sonoro has been opening windows to the future and betting on the present of an island, which used to practice sustainable development when this practice was not yet labelled. The Festival takes advantage of the social and cultural environment as well as the cultural and artistic legacy to offer an appointment adjusted to the Island that hostess it.

“¡Atlántico infinito, tú que mi canto ordenas! / Cada vez que mis pasos me llevan a tu parte, / siento que nueva sangre palpita por mis venas / y a la vez que mi cuerpo, cobra salud mi arte [...]” As the poet Tomás Morales expresses in these verses, Atlántico Sonoro only wishes to continue beating in the veins of La Gomera for five more years.