Arundo Donax
In La Pobla de Híjar, a small village in Lower Aragon, a biennial festival celebrates the musical reed — the Arundo donax plant used to make the reeds and mouthpieces for wind instruments across the world. From bagpipes and gaitas to saxophones, clarinets and oboes.
The festival is organised by the Musical Association “Fuera de Tono” with support from the local government, the Comarca del Bajo Martín and the Provincial Council of Teruel. In just a few years it has become the village’s flagship cultural event.
The format combines concerts, reed-making workshops, exhibitions, talks and demonstrations by luthiers and musicians from across the country. An unusual mix that works because the reed is the thread connecting everything: from agriculture to music, from the field to the stage.
Editions covered
We’ve been there since 2013. Five editions documented, each different from the last:
- La Puebla de Híjar – Arundo Donax 2013
- Arundo Donax 2015
- Arundo Donax 2017
- Arundo Donax 2023 — VIII edition
- IX Arundo Donax 2025
A festival that puts a small village on the world map of lutherie and wind music deserves to be photographed with the same care the craftspeople bring to the reed.
