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The main loss of the weekend is Sólstafir, stranded in Iceland. In Lisbon, there are still two Brazilian concerts, plus Maria Reis and Sérgio Godinho at Cuca Monga. In the north, it is worth heading to Braga: Sensible Soccers are performing live an album whose remixes were released before the original, while on Saturday fado singer Gisela João will perform protest songs from the era of the Carnation Revolution.
Lisbon and surroundings
Os Garotin
📅 September 25, 21:00
📍 LAV — Lisboa ao Vivo, Lisbon
💸 €35
The trio from São Gonçalo near Rio de Janeiro came together at musical gatherings at the home of Caetano Veloso (a Brazilian song classic) and blends MPB (música popular brasileira, Brazilian singer-songwriter music) with soul, R&B and hip-hop. Their debut album, “Os Garotin de São Gonçalo”, won the 2024 Latin Grammy for Best Portuguese-Language Pop Album, while the tracks “Calor do Momento” and “Zero a Cem” spread across social media.
Under the Doom
📅 September 25–26, from 18:00 on Friday, from 17:30 on Saturday
📍 LAV — Lisboa ao Vivo, Lisbon
💸 €50 per day, €95 for two
The tenth edition of Lisbon’s doom metal (a slow, heavy and dark branch of metal) and gothic festival. Saturday’s headliners are Sweden’s Draconian, with returning vocalist Lisa Johansson and their new album “In Somnolent Ruin”. That same evening, American band Evoken, pioneers of funeral doom (the slowest subgenre), will play in Portugal for the first time, Liv Kristine from Theatre of Tragedy will perform, and Portuguese band Exhausted will take the stage for the first time since 1999. Iceland’s Sólstafir, Friday’s headliners, have cancelled their show due to a strike at Keflavík Airport. They will be replaced by Portugal’s Process of Guilt, while ticket refunds will be available from September 28 to October 2. Tickets are also available at the door.
Draconian on stage. The Swedish doom/gothic metal band will perform at the Under the Doom festival in Lisbon on September 26.
Maria Reis
📅 September 26, 19:00
📍 MNAC Sculpture Garden, Chiado, Lisbon
💸 Free
Maria Reis is a singer-songwriter and co-founder of Lisbon label Cafetra Records. Together with her sister Júlia, she played in the punk band Pega Monstro, and after the band broke up in 2018, she went solo, writing intimate indie songs in Portuguese that are raw in sound and candid in tone. Her album “Flor da Urtiga” (2021) was produced by Panda Bear (Noah Lennox of Animal Collective), while her latest, “Suspiro…”, was released in 2024. The concert is part of Noites de Verão, a summer series of free concerts by the Filho Único association, and marks the reopening of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s sculpture garden after restoration.
Festival Cuca Monga
📅 September 25–26, from 18:00 to 02:00
📍 Palácio Pimenta Gardens (Museu de Lisboa), Campo Grande, Lisbon
💸 €30 per day, €50 for two
The fourth edition of the Lisbon label Cuca Monga’s festival (home to Capitão Fausto and Ganso). Two days of new Portuguese and Brazilian music across two stages in the palace garden, with a food court. On Friday, the headliners are Capitão Fausto, one of Lisbon’s leading indie rock bands. Also that night, São Paulo’s Sophia Chablau e Uma Enorme Perda de Tempo will play at a Portuguese festival for the first time. On Saturday, Sérgio Godinho (a classic of Portuguese singer-songwriter music) performs with the band Zarco, while Manel Cruz (former frontman of Ornatos Violeta) performs songs from the album “Vida Nova”. Two-day passes are almost sold out. Children under 6 enter free.
Azymuth
📅 September 26, 21:30
📍 Casa Capitão, Lisbon
💸 €32.50
The Brazilian band that half a century ago fused jazz-funk with samba and called the result “samba doido” (“crazy samba”). Over the years, Azymuth have released more than 30 albums and become a fixture of the club scene: they have recorded with Madlib (American hip-hop producer), 4hero (British electronic duo) and Jazzanova (German electronic collective), while their tracks have been remixed by Theo Parrish and Ron Trent (American house DJs). Of the original members, bassist Alex Malheiros remains in the lineup, with Dudu Viana on keyboards, who has played with Marcos Valle (a bossa nova classic). In Lisbon, they will perform their new album “Marca Passo”.
Ode ao Mar e aos Noivos
📅 September 26, 21:30
📍 Doca dos Pescadores (fishermen’s dock), Setúbal
💸 Free
An open-air opera premiere right in the fishermen’s dock: the performance features a real boat that docks and heads out to sea as the story unfolds. The libretto, inspired by Fernando Pessoa’s “Ode Marítima” (a Portuguese modernist poet), was written by Gonçalo M. Tavares (a writer and winner of the José Saramago Prize), with music by Jorge Salgueiro (a Setúbal composer and author of around a dozen operas). The story follows two fishermen, João and Tobias, who are caught in a storm, while their fiancées, together with the captain, a wise woman and the Madman, rush to their rescue; professional singers perform alongside local dance and music groups.
42.º Encontro de Corais Alentejanos
📅 September 26, 15:00
📍 Sociedade Musical 5 de Outubro, Aldeia de Paio Pires (Seixal)
💸 Free
The festival of cante alentejano (polyphonic a cappella singing from Alentejo, inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list) is being held in Seixal for the 42nd time: the tradition was brought here by migrants from Alentejo in the 1970s and ’80s. Eight choirs will take the stage — five local groups and guests from the Alentejo towns of Ferreira do Alentejo and Santa Vitória, as well as from Cascais.
Festival Ano Q
📅 September 25–26
📍 Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon
💸 Ticket
The festival of Lisbon online radio station Rádio Quântica returns for its sixth edition: two nights of experimental music at the ZDB cultural centre in Bairro Alto. The main names are Nazar (an Angolan producer who reworks kuduro, Luanda’s dance music, for the British label Hyperdub) and Má Estrela (a Lisbon project at the intersection of jazz, dub and electronics featuring drummer Gabriel Ferrandini). Also on the bill are violinist Helena Silva with ambient music, drum and bass DJ Mix’Elle from Braga, and around a dozen other artists. 18+ only.
Feira da Luz
📅 September 25–27, fair open from 11:00 to midnight, concerts at 21:30
📍 Jardim da Luz, Carnide (Carnide or Colégio Militar/Luz metro, blue line)
💸 Free
The final weekend of Lisbon’s old fair, which grew out of a pilgrimage to the Church of Our Lady of Light: stalls selling tableware and crafts, carousels, grilled food and farturas (fried spirals of dough, Portugal’s cousin of churros). On the main stage on Friday, FF (Fernando Fernandes, a pop singer and star of the teen series Morangos com Açúcar); on Saturday, Valete (a rapper known for his socially charged lyrics); and on Sunday, the fair closes with João Pedro Pais (a singer-songwriter of soft pop rock, popular since the late 1990s). On Sunday at 17:30, a procession dedicated to Our Lady of Light passes through the streets of Carnide, and it is worth arriving before the concert for this part of the programme.
Porto and surroundings
Boney M.
📅 September 26, 21:30
📍 Póvoa Arena, Póvoa de Varzim (seaside town 30 km north of Porto)
💸 €30–50
The legendary disco group formed in West Germany in 1975 by producer Frank Farian; three years later, Boney M. became one of the first Western pop groups to perform in Moscow. The programme includes “Daddy Cool”, “Rasputin” and “Rivers of Babylon”, followed by DJ Viktor Soul playing ’80s hits at the same arena.
Festival de Música Folk da Maia
📅 September 25–27
📍 Monte Calvário, Nogueira, Maia
💸 Free
Three days of Portuguese roots music just outside Porto, from village festivities to contemporary reinterpretations. On Friday, folk groups Bicho Carpinteiro (17:00), Trevo de Cordas (18:30) and 7 Saias (22:00) will perform. Saturday features Trigueirinha (18:30) and Galandum Galundaina — a group from the Miranda Plateau that sings in Mirandese (Portugal’s second official language) to bagpipe accompaniment. On Sunday, Rastolhice and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Pereira Cristo will perform. Free workshops take place at 11:00 in the mornings: on Saturday, dancing with choreographer Diana Azevedo; on Sunday, an introduction to traditional instruments with Pereira Cristo. Registration for the workshops is required at infocultura@cm-maia.pt.
Sensible Soccers — Camminando di Notte
📅 September 25, 21:30
📍 Theatro Circo, Braga
💸 €15
An instrumental band that builds long, hypnotic tracks from synthesizers and live instruments. In Braga, they will perform their fifth album live for the first time. The remixes came out before the tracks themselves, produced by Mad Professor (British dub producer) and Motor City Drum Ensemble (German house producer). Their previous album, “Manoel”, featured new soundtracks for early documentary films by Manoel de Oliveira (a Portuguese cinema classic).
Gisela João — Inquieta
📅 September 26, 21:30
📍 Theatro Circo, Braga
💸 €25
The fado singer, known for her powerful low voice, performs songs that form part of Portugal’s collective memory of freedom. The programme includes songs by José Afonso (author of “Grândola, Vila Morena”, the song that signalled the Carnation Revolution), José Mário Branco (a protest-song writer) and Fernando Lopes-Graça (composer and folklore collector). She is accompanied by guitars and keyboards.
Dance
The weekend belongs to techno veterans: on Friday, one of the fathers of the Detroit sound; on Saturday, Richie Hawtin closes the Brunch Electronik season. Porto sounds fresher, with jungle sets running until six in the morning.
Lisbon and surroundings
Kevin Saunderson
📅 September 25, from 23:59
📍 Ministerium Club, Praça do Comércio, Lisbon
💸 €15
Together with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, Saunderson helped create Detroit techno in the mid-1980s. His Inner City project brought the sound into the pop charts with hits such as “Good Life” and “Big Fun”. A late-night set at the club beneath the arcades of Praça do Comércio is a chance to hear him in an intimate room, away from the festival crowds.
Kevin Saunderson behind the decks.
Brunch Electronik Lisboa: Closing
📅 September 26, from 14:00
📍 Lagoa Branca, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon
💸 From €20 (entry before 15:00)
The daytime open-air event from Barcelona closes its tenth season in Portugal with a hard techno lineup. The main name is Richie Hawtin (Canadian minimal techno pioneer, Plastikman project). Also on the bill are a joint set by Chris Liebing (German techno DJ) and Luke Slater (British veteran, Planetary Assault Systems project), as well as Chlär (Swedish hardgroove producer) and IMOGEN (British DJ and BBC Radio 1 presenter).
Šaknys Culture: TSHA, Luke Alessi, Sally C, The Trip
📅 September 26, 14:00–23:00
📍 Quinta Mira Rio, Caparica
💸 Ticket
Lithuanian promoters Šaknys (“roots” in Lithuanian) are bringing their party to Lisbon for the first time, to a villa above the river overlooking the city. The lineup includes TSHA (British producer, released on Ninja Tune), Luke Alessi (London house DJ) and Sally C (DJ from Northern Ireland); musically, it spans house, minimal and acid.
1/4 Escuro × Vault Sessions: Alarico B2B Freddy K
📅 September 26, 17:00–02:00
📍 Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon
💸 €30
Two Italians from different generations play together all night: Milan’s Alarico (fast hardgroove, released on Klockworks, the label of Berghain resident Ben Klock) and Roman veteran Freddy K (founder of KEY Vinyl). For those who want more, the Second Shift afterparty starts at midnight at Ministerium Club, with a separate ticket.
Black Coffee: Lisbon Open Air
📅 September 27, 12:00–00:00
📍 Parque Papa Francisco, Loures
💸 From €25 (entry before 14:00), then €45
The South African DJ blends deep house with African rhythms. He was the first African artist to win a Grammy for an electronic music album and has produced for Drake. Twelve hours outdoors, including sunset.
Porto
Jayda G
📅 September 26, 18:00–00:00
📍 Coliseu Porto Ageas, Porto
💸 Ticket
The Canadian DJ plays house and disco. She was nominated for a Grammy for the track “Both of Us” and is an environmental scientist by training who studied orcas. A six-hour set in the 1941 Art Deco hall as part of Elétrico Festival.
Forest Drive West
📅 September 26, 23:00–06:00
📍 Gare Porto, Porto
💸 Ticket
The British producer combines hypnotic techno with jungle (fast breakbeats from 1990s British rave culture). His debut album Apparitions was released on Bristol label Livity Sound, while tracks have also appeared on Munich’s Ilian Tape. He is joined by Portuguese DJs André Cascais (techno DJ who has performed at Neopop festival) and Amulador. Gare is a club in a tunnel near São Bento railway station.
See
The most valuable part of this section is free: the final weekend of Heritage Days opens up Lisbon’s museums and palaces, while Porto hosts a festival celebrating African diaspora culture. Craft and antique fairs are worth leaving for if there is time.
Lisbon and surroundings
Jornadas Europeias do Património
📅 September 25–27 (final days, programme runs from September 18)
📍 Museums, palaces and monuments across Lisbon
💸 Free, registration required for most programmes
European Heritage Days (a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Commission): museums, palaces and monasteries offer free guided tours and open up places that are normally closed to the public. This year’s theme is heritage at risk. On Friday and Saturday, the Lisboa 360º walking tour runs from the Águas Livres Aqueduct via the Amoreiras 360º viewpoint to the roof of the Mãe d’Água reservoir, a roughly two-hour look at how the city was supplied with water. On Saturday, a route runs from the São Vicente de Fora Monastery to Lisbon Cathedral, following the trail of the relics of Saint Vincent (the patron saint of Lisbon), which were brought to the city in 1173.
Reservatório da Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras in Lisbon. One of the sites included in the Lisboa 360º route as part of European Heritage Days. Photo: Museu da Água.
Dias da Idade Média
📅 September 26–27
📍 Castelo de São Jorge, Lisbon
💸 €17
For the second time, São Jorge Castle is being given over to the Middle Ages for two days: costumed reenactors, birds of prey in flight, medieval dances and an evening concert by bagpipers. Historians from NOVA (NOVA University Lisbon) lead talks and tours about Muslim and medieval Lisbon, while children aged 6 and over can take part in workshops on medieval writing and cooking. Everything is in Portuguese; workshops and tours are booked when purchasing the ticket, and children under 12 enter free.
Bienal Artes & Ofícios | Novo Design
📅 September 24–27
📍 Mercado Municipal de Oeiras, Oeiras
💸 Free
At the third biennial of crafts and new design, around 50 makers from across the country showcase and sell ceramics, glass, jewellery, woodwork, weaving, textiles and leather goods. Admission to the exhibition at the municipal market is free. Workshops, from making ceramic masks to knife sharpening, cost €16–86 and require registration. On Saturday, the market is open until 22:00.
Festival Palco do Mundo
📅 September 26–27
📍 Jardim do Cerco, Mafra
💸 Free
The twelfth intercultural festival takes place in the gardens of the Mafra Palace. Musicians and dancers from different countries, from Portuguese drummers to kathak performers (a classical dance from North India), perform right along the paths. Performances and the fair are free; workshops cost €5 for one or €8 for a day and require registration.
BANG Awards
📅 September 25–27
📍 Parque do Choupal, Torres Vedras
💸 Free
In the evenings, the animation film festival turns the city park into an open-air cinema. Five screens show competition short films, including a dedicated children’s screen, alongside light installations and video mapping on the chapel. During the day, there are free workshops requiring registration, with speakers including Meg LeFauve (co-writer of Pixar’s “Inside Out”). On Saturday, Lebanese indie band Postcards plays after the awards ceremony.
Porto
Quilombo_Trema!
📅 September 24–27
📍 Faculdade de Belas Artes (Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto), Rivoli and Helena Sá e Costa theatres
💸 Free, Macacos — €9
A festival of Black and African diaspora culture brought to Porto by Brazilian platform TREMA! from Recife. This is its second edition. On Friday and Saturday, Rivoli stages Macacos, a one-man show by Clayton Nascimento (Brazilian actor and playwright) about racism in Brazilian history. On Saturday, Samba, a wordless dance performance by Reinaldo Ribeiro (Brazilian choreographer working in Spain) about carnival, migration and the body, will be shown; free tickets are distributed one hour before the start. On Sunday, the programme moves to the faculty garden. From 14:00, Feira Afro (a market of Porto’s African diaspora entrepreneurs featuring clothing, books and food) is open, followed by the Cegonha company’s puppet show Abaeté (a Brazilian-Portuguese collective) for children, and in the evening DARCI (a DJ from Mozambique: afro house and amapiano, South African house with percussion) performs.
ARTePorto
📅 September 24–27
📍 Alfândega do Porto, Porto
💸 €9
Porto’s first art and antiques fair takes place in the 19th-century former customs house on the Douro waterfront. Galleries and antique dealers showcase and sell contemporary and modernist art, design and antiques. The ticket is valid for one entry on any of the three days.
BOIL Climate Festival
📅 September 24–27
📍 Parque de Serralves, Porto
💸 Free
The climate festival is taking place for the third time in the park of the Serralves contemporary art foundation. The programme includes installations, sound walks through the treetops, climate-themed short films, fermentation workshops and conversations between scientists and comedians. Participants include pianist Joana Gama and the Museum of Tomorrow (a science museum in Rio de Janeiro). This year, part of the programme is taking to the city streets for the first time.
Eat/Drink
The gastronomic side of the weekend is modest and mostly about wine: a tasting by the ocean in Cascais and a municipal winery in Vila Franca. The most practical reason to go out is the francesinha in Oeiras, which runs until October 5, so there is no need to sacrifice Saturday just for it.
Lisbon and surroundings
Palaphita Wine Experience
📅 September 26, 15:00–21:00
📍 Palaphita Cascais, Cascais
💸 Ticket
The first wine festival at the Palaphita restaurant on the Atlantic coast. The wristband at the entrance gives unlimited access to a tasting of more than 60 Portuguese wines. Producers include Herdade do Rocim (Alentejo) and Quinta da Lapa (Tejo), with a DJ set in the evening. 18+ only.
Festival de Francesinhas
📅 September 25 — October 5, 12:00–15:00 and 19:00–22:30
📍 Jardim Municipal de Oeiras, Oeiras
💸 Free entry, francesinha €12–15
Four establishments from Porto are coming to Oeiras for 11 days, each with its own sauce: Cufra (open since 1974), Alfândega Douro, Alicantina and Santa Francesinha. Francesinha is Porto’s signature sandwich: bread, several types of meat, melted cheese and a spicy beer-based sauce. Besides the classic version, there will be vegetarian, vegan, chicken and wood-fired versions. Parking is free.
Francesinha — the star dish of the festival in Oeiras.
Encostas de Xira Sunset
📅 September 26, 18:00
📍 Quinta Municipal de Subserra, São João dos Montes (Vila Franca de Xira)
💸 Ticket
The municipal winery welcomes sunset with its own Encostas de Xira wine (white, red, rosé) and petiscos (Portuguese snacks). An acoustic set is provided by MT80, a rock and pop cover band from the ’80s, with singer Irina Furtado as the evening’s guest. No booking required.
Porto and surroundings
VeganAve
📅 September 26, from 10:00
📍 Largo da Nossa Senhora da Oliveira, Guimarães
💸 Free
A market of plant-based food and local producers from the Ave Valley on the main square of historic Guimarães. The programme includes tastings and free activities. The market is part of the programme for the year in which Guimarães holds the title of European Green Capital.
Activities
The main new event is Lisbon’s first dragon boat race, where anyone can take part. The rest is built around European Week of Sport: almost everything is free and requires no prior preparation.
Lisboa Dragon Boat Festival
📅 September 27, 9:00–14:00
📍 Doca do Oceanário, Parque das Nações, Lisbon
💸 Free
Lisbon’s first dragon boat festival: long canoes with a dragon’s head on the bow, with 12 rowers in each boat and a drummer setting the rhythm. On Sunday, university, fire brigade and water sports club teams compete, while during Community Day anyone can get into a boat — registration is available online or on site, in the Dragon Zone at Pavilhão de Portugal (the Portugal Pavilion, built for Expo 98).
Poster for the first Lisboa Dragon Boat Festival in Lisbon.
Health Fest
📅 September 26, 9:00–21:00
📍 Jardim do MAAT, Belém, Lisbon
💸 Free
The festival of Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines: 12 hours of outdoor workouts overlooking the Tagus — yoga, CrossFit, dance, Body Combat (cardio based on martial arts movements), HYROX (a fitness race combining running with strength stations) and runs with a running club. Registration is not required: it is only needed to receive a sponsor gift bag.
Bimbo Global Race
📅 September 27, first start at 8:50
📍 Praça do Império, Belém, Lisbon
💸 Ticket
A race held for the 11th year by Mexican bread producer Grupo Bimbo: 10 km and 5 km runs (ages 18+), a 5 km walk with no age restrictions, and children’s 200–800 m races for kids up to 12. Latecomers can register in person when collecting their race packs — on September 25 and 26 at Decathlon Amadora.
# BeActive Sport Village
📅 September 26, 14:00–19:30
📍 Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor, Cruz Quebrada, Oeiras
💸 Free
A major open day for European Week of Sport at the Jamor National Sports Centre (where the Portuguese football cup final is played): dozens of federation and club activity areas where you can try different sports for free, train with coaches and get quick health checks. Suitable for the whole family, from children to older adults.
Mega Hidro by Night «Glow»
📅 September 26, 20:00
📍 Piscina Municipal de Amora and Piscina Municipal de Aldeia de Paio Pires, Seixal
💸 Free
An evening aqua aerobics session (known as hidroginástica in Portuguese), taking place simultaneously in pools across Europe as part of European Week of Sport; all you have to do is follow the instructor’s movements. Registration is required at the pool administration (Amora — 210 976 125, Aldeia de Paio Pires — 210 976 060); you will not be admitted without a swimsuit, swimming cap and flip-flops.
For Kids
This weekend’s family options are almost all outdoors, so a lot rides on the weather, and the best of them is a long drive for Lisbon families: Serralves in Porto has the most packed programme by far. Around Lisbon it comes down to a Sintra festival where some shows are in Portuguese, a small neighbourhood morning in Paço de Arcos, and giant kites at Silveira that only go up if the wind cooperates.
Lisbon and surroundings
Palmela Medieval Fair
📅 25–27 September, Fri from 17:00, Sat–Sun from 14:00
📍 Castle and historic centre, Palmela
💸 €5 per day, €10 for three days, free for under-12s
For three days, Palmela goes back to 1348. In the fair’s storyline, King Afonso IV arrives with the queen and Prince Pedro to celebrate the victory at Salado (a 1340 battle against the Marinids) with the knights of the Order of Santiago, who held the castle. The royal visit is invented, but the programme is real: jousting on horseback, falconry displays, period music, taverns and craft stalls on the slopes beneath the castle walls.
Festival Imaginário
📅 September 26–27
📍 Quinta da Ribafria, Sintra
💸 Ticket
The eighth family festival at an estate near Sintra: theatre, circus, music, dance and workshops take place right in the gardens, with one ticket covering the entire programme. Some performances are in Portuguese, but circus and music need no translation; places in the workshops are limited, so it is better to arrive when the festival opens.
Festival Imaginário at Quinta da Ribafria in Sintra.
A Rua como Tua!
📅 September 27, 10:00–13:00
📍 Jardim Dionísio Matias, Paço de Arcos (near the market)
💸 Free
A morning neighbourhood celebration in a small park: chalk drawings and a community mural, toys made from recycled materials, traditional games and football with bottle caps, family musical duos and dancing with Batoto Yetu (an African dance ensemble from Oeiras), while firefighters and police officers talk to children about safety. Very little Portuguese is needed, as most activities are easy to understand without words; organisers ask visitors to bring a hat.
Giant Kites at Praia Azul
📅 September 26
📍 Praia Azul, Silveira (Torres Vedras), about 50 minutes from Lisbon
💸 Programme
A workshop and giant kite launch on the beach, part of the celebrations marking the centenary of the Silveira civil parish (a civil parish is a local administrative unit, similar to a municipal district). Everything depends on the wind; on the same dates, from September 26 to 28, tethered hot-air balloon flights are also promised.
Porto
Festa do Outono
📅 September 26–27, 10:00–19:00
📍 Parque de Serralves, Porto
💸 Free
The sixteenth autumn festival in the park of the Serralves foundation (Porto’s main contemporary art museum): around 150 activities, from workshops and puppetry to birdwatching and a visit to the farm, where this year’s special guest is Ortigão the donkey from the Azorean island of Graciosa. On Saturday at 16:30, the D’Es Tro troupe (Portuguese contemporary circus) performs Poi; on Sunday at 11:00, Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa (a wind orchestra) plays, followed at 18:00 by xauxau dodô (a septet from Minho blending jazz, afrobeat and hip-hop).
What Else Is Interesting?
The last weekend of September is a good one for tech enthusiasts: aerobatic figures will be performed in the skies over Santa Cruz, while cars almost a century old will arrive in Belém. There is little to show for Porto and its surroundings this time: the list did not turn up a single event for this section.
Lisbon and surroundings
Noite Europeia dos Investigadores (European Researchers’ Night)
📅 September 25, 17:00–24:00
📍 Natural History and Science Museum, Botanical Garden and Principe Real Garden; Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Parque das Nações (19:00–24:00); gardens of the Marquês de Pombal Palace in Oeiras
💸 Free
Once a year, on the last Friday of September, scientists across Europe show the public what they do: conducting experiments, putting on demonstrations and answering questions. More than a hundred activities are planned in Lisbon, mostly focusing on climate and sustainability. It is family-friendly, and many of the experiments can be understood without Portuguese.
European Researchers’ Night in Lisbon. Researchers demonstrate scientific experiments for visitors at Pavilhão do Conhecimento. Photo: Pavilhão do Conhecimento / Ciência Viva.
Corrida dos Fundadores (Founders’ Run)
📅 September 27
📍 Mafra Palace, Estoril Casino Gardens, finish in Belém
💸 Free
More than 50 cars and motorcycles built before 1939 will travel from Figueira da Foz to Lisbon over three days. The lineup includes Bentley, Bugatti, Packard, Wolseley and brands that disappeared long ago. On Sunday, the convoy stops at the palace in Mafra and at the Estoril Casino Gardens, while in Belém the vehicles will be put on public display after the finish. The arrival time has not yet been announced by the organiser, the Caramulo Automobile Museum.
Festival Aéreo de Santa Cruz
📅 September 27, from 08:00, show from 15:00
📍 Santa Cruz Aerodrome, Torres Vedras
💸 Ticket
Torres Vedras Aero Club is celebrating its 80th anniversary with an air show. In the morning, visitors can take a hot-air balloon or plane flight (batismo de voo, a “first flight”), while in the afternoon the sky will feature gliders, historic aircraft and model planes. Aerobatic displays will be performed by Jorge Lourenço, the only Portuguese pilot in the Unlimited class at the World Championship (sixth in the world ranking), and experienced aerobatic pilot Luís Garção. On the same day, the nearby town of Silveira will host The Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive, a charity drive for cars more than 40 years old, with owners dressed in period style.
