A powerful musical journey through South America’s resistance movements, woven through the folk songs that became the soundtrack of a continent, performed by Alex Etchart and Pepa Duarte (maker of Eating Myself) – showing as part of PAPAYA Fest 2026
Bringing together song, history and social change, Winds Of The People is a musical highlight of this year’s PAPAYA Fest programme.
Travel through the sounds and stories of South America’s revolutionary past, in an interactive evening of bilingual folk song and personal storytelling. Winds Of The People traces how folk singers became the voice of resistance across Chile, Argentina and Uruguay in the 1960s and ’70s – and how their songs endure in all those who dare to keep them alive. Performed in Spanish and English, the show is at once personal, political and inter-generational, featuring Alex Etchart’s original translations.
“Keeping the folk flame alive by cross-pollinating spaces and communities in ways only Alex can.”
Sam Lee
Alex Etchart
British Uruguayan Alex Etchart was raised in the fierce polyrhythms and majestic harmonies of London’s South American refugee diáspora. They have written dozens of original songs for contemporary queer, decolonial and environmental social movements and preserve and translate folk songs from the golden era of South American folk revival.
Pepa Duarte
Singer and percussionist Pepa Duarte is an actor, multilingual voiceover artist, dramaturg and bona fide auteur, who has been in countless stage productions, major BBC series and her solo piece Eating Myself has toured across the UK and to China, twice! Her mentorship programmes and drag persona Señorita Rita visibilise migrant experiences in the UK.
Stay afterwards for the festival’s Fiesta Nightat The Old Market Assembly!
PAPAYA Fest 2026: a 9 day festival of theatre, music and celebration bringing Latin American and British cultures together.
Click here to see the full PAPAYA Fest programme
Get your PAPAYA Passport on arrival. No borders. No visas. Collect stamps across the festival and earn a free PAPAYA T-shirt.