360,000 attendees at a concert festival in Machala, which cost USD 420,000 – El Comercio

Alex Campos, Sergio Sacoto, Verde 70, Jessi Uribe, Juanes and J Balvin. Machala has thrown the city out the window with an agenda of concerts free that represented a capacityin total, of 360,000 attendees to the festival musical Machala Lives the Music. The event was organized by the Town hall and whose first edition was held between May 28 and June 18.

To one side was the convulsion that causes in places of the saw Ecuadorian, for the protests called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie). The esplanade located on Alejandro Castro Benites and Teófilo Oyola avenues was packed. The attendees met during the concerts in Machala for the 198 years of cantonization of the Banana Capital, which is commemorated on June 25.

The closing show of the concerts in Machala was offered by the singer, composer and record producer Colombian J Balvin, who dressed in colors for his José Tour. Only that show, according to data from the Mayor’s Office, had a capacity of 120,000 attendees. In the middle of his presentation, the Mayor Dario Macas Salvatierra gave him the delivery recognition for being part of the festival. “J Balvin, the city gives you this recognition,” she told him before a hug.

A musical journey of USD 420,000

The realization of artistic show Machala Live the Music was raised by contract Special regime in the Purchasing Portal on March 7, 2022, for a cost of USD 420,000, the most expensive in this modality of the 13 contracts of everything so far in 2022. It is followed by the Creation and presentation of the mobile artistic work ‘Machala light, love and hope’what includes troupes of lights and floats in the city, uploaded to that platform on April 6 of this year, for USD 160,000.

There are two agreements that come close to that category. The one for the first edition of the June Show, at USD 140,000, and the direct contracting of the Ruth Villamagua Armijosfor the streaming transmission service, with the aim of disseminating the activities and services carried out by the GAD, for USD 120,000. Both uploaded in May.

The contract was awarded to Midas Corporationwith RUC 1792989078001, whose legal representative is Esteban Torres Chamorro, and whose economic activity is retail of non-alcoholic beverages in specialized establishments, bowling, ice cream, ice, etc., according to the SRI.

The $420,000 is itemized in the contract. Being the most expensive presentation the lastfor USD 320,000. The rest includes two presentations of USD 20,000 and two of USD 30,000.

According to what is published by Diario El Tiempo, from Colombia, only J Balvin charges Half a million dollars ($500,000) for presentation. While Juanes, about USD 200,000.

Reactivation as an argument

The party generated critics from some netizens who pointed out to the Mayor of “living in wonderland”, of not being in tune with the crisis that Ecuador lives and squandering the money.

In Cabildo he explained that with these shows Machala seeks to position itself as a benchmark of local, national and foreign. And that the main objective of these conferences was the tourist revival and economy of the city. “The merchants who managed to position their businesses in the events had the opportunity to witness the dynamization of its economy,” the Mayor’s Office explained in a statement.

According to figures provided by the Cabildo, Alex Campos managed to group 50,000 people, Sergio Sacoto and Verde 70, 50,000; Jessi Uribe, at 60,000; Juanes at 80,000 and J Balvin at 120,000.

The entity announced that a press conference is planned on Tuesday to report on the contingency plan for the five days of concerts, how many food stalls and businesses were installed in the back of the esplanade and the impact it had on the city.