“The Valencian Villancico from the 16th and 18th Centuries: A Cultural Exploration,” an event for those interested in Iberian culture, will be from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in room 328 in Murphy Hall at Kansas University.

The symposium will investigate the Spanish villancico, a poetic and musical work that was performed on religious feasts and composed to appeal to the general public.

The program includes:

“Valencia at the Crossroads,” by Debra Blumenthal, a KU historian, 1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.; “The Villancico in Valencia: Sacred Music in a Secular Context,” by KU musicologist Paul Laird, 2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.; “Francisco Morera and the Valencian Villancico of the 18th Century,” by Jose Luis Palacious Garoz, a musicologist at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellon, Spain, 2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.; and “A New Perspective on the Villancico Negro: Servitude, Exoticism and Cultural Transmission in the Spanish Siglo de Oro,” by Roberta Freund Schwartz, a KU musicologist.

The KU Collegium Musicum will perform an open rehearsal of Valenican villancicos, with comments from Garoz and a question-and-answer session, from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The free event is open to the public.