Last Saturday, March 7, the theatre of the Cultural and Artistic Promotion of Sant Joan Despí hosted an unusual scene: a sound system occupying a centenary theatre. The initiative was promoted by Despinçats, a self-managed youth entity from Sant Joan Despí founded in 2023 with the aim of revitalizing the city and organizing cultural, festive, and community activities. With this gathering, they transformed this historic venue into the stage for a most modern musical and cultural proposal.
The proposal arises, according to what the entity explains, from the will to explore formats that until now had not been seen in the city. In this case, with the collaboration of the Wisdom Link collective from Sant Feliu de Llobregat, specialized in this type of sessions, which provided the necessary experience to make the event possible.
The contrast between the content and the container does not leave indifferent
Foment, a space with a long cultural trajectory and linked to more classic formats, became for one night a meeting point for dub, reggae, dancehall or drum & bass music. “It can generate a contrast between a more classic space and a more underground proposal, but in the end everything is culture”, they defend from Despinçats.
From the historic hall to the soundsystem: the young people who make the Foment de Sant Joan Despí vibrate
Beyond the uniqueness of the proposal, the entity also highlights the value of bringing new audiences to historical facilities in the municipality. In fact, they assure that there are people from Sant Joan Despí who did not know about the existence of the Foment theatre, and that this type of activity can contribute to making it known and reactivating it.
Foment, which is currently experiencing a new impulse with the increase in cultural activities, hosts several local entities and also functions as a meeting point. In this context, Despinçats has its headquarters there, a fact that has facilitated the organization of an event in an enclosed space and with more flexibility than the public street.
Sant Joan Despí… dormitory city?
Despinçats, born in May 2023, has consolidated itself in a short time as one of the main drivers of youth activity and popular culture in the city. With initiatives such as concerts, pub crawls or popular meals, the entity seeks to revitalize a municipality that they consider lacking in leisure spaces and community life.
Along these lines, from Despinçats they point out the difficulties in promoting this type of initiative. They consider that Sant Joan Despí carries a certain label of “dormitory city”, with little tradition of neighborhood life and popular activity in the streets. To this is added, they explain, administrative limitations, with restrictive hours and bureaucracy that often makes it difficult to carry out cultural proposals: “If you want to party, you often have to go to neighboring municipalities like Sant Feliu or Cornellà”.
In fact, they assure that in some cases they have had to rethink locations or formats due to the imposed conditions. “We spoke with the City Council, but the conditions made us opt to set it up ourselves”, they explain.
In this context, the sound system at Foment is not just a one-off proposal, but also a sample of the path the entity wants to follow. A way to reclaim new uses for the usual spaces and to open them to formats that connect with new generations, without breaking with their identity.
