Majorca gets ready to rock at record fair

Majorca will be transformed into a music lover's paradise in April when Palma hosts the island's third Record Fair, which organisers says, is now the third largest in Europe. A total of 130 exhibitors will be travelling to Palma for the two-day event on April 27-28 and over 1.5 million records will be on sale inside the Balearic exhibition centre on the Levante industrial estate. Exhibitors and music enthusiasts from the Balearics and the mainland will be accompanied by record collectors from across Europe and the United States and Japan. This year two stages will also be erected, one inside and the other outside the exhibition centre for a line-up of Majorcan bands which is yet to be confirmed. Record dealer Pere Terrasa, who along with collector Joan Carles Vilella, presented this year's fair yesterday, said that the Majorca event “has a very personal feel to it and goes beyond the realms of commercial music.” Last year record sales at the fair rose significantly by 25 per cent. The fair's trade mark auction of memorabilia will be held. One of the star items up for auction this year is a ticket to an Elvis Presley concert to have been staged just three days after the King of rock and roll died. Also there are signed photographs of Neil Young and Bjork along with a signed Rolling Stones album. Bands selected to perform will also be awarded with prizes for best pop-rock, punk-hardcore-metal, folk-blues-jazz, techno and band with the most promise. The two-day event is expected to attract around 10'000 people and the Majorcan Insular Councillor for Culture, María Antonia Vadell, said yesterday that the event and the hard work which is invested in promoting local talent “fills an important gap in Majorca's modern culture.” At yesterday's presentation, the organisers also unveiled the rules for the competition, open to the public, to design the poster for this year. The winner will walk away with 500 euros in cash and a 200-euro voucher to spend at the fair.