The Azores' biggest music festival takes over a black-sand beach this Thursday
MEO Monte Verde runs 6–8 August on the beach at Ribeira Grande, São Miguel, for its 12th edition. Two Door Cinema Club, James, Calema and Xutos & Pontapés headline, and there's camping next to the site.
If you happen to be on São Miguel in the first week of August, three nights of music on a black-sand beach are waiting for you. MEO Monte Verde returns on 6, 7 and 8 August to Praia do Monte Verde in Ribeira Grande, for the 12th edition of the largest music festival in the Azores.
The site is the beach itself. That is the thing that sets Monte Verde apart from almost anything on the mainland, and it is also why you should pack a jumper. An Atlantic night on São Miguel’s north coast is not kind to anyone who left the house in a t-shirt.
Who is playing
The bill mixes international acts, Portuguese pop and a solid run of hip-hop. Two Door Cinema Club, James, Calema, Xutos & Pontapés, MC Cabelinho, Nininho Vaz Maia and Xamã all take the main stage.
Beyond them come Vizinhos, Trym, MC Paiva, Lon3r Johny and Stiff Bizkit, plus a deep bench of local names and DJ sets: André N B2B Souza, Good In Da’Hood, King Bigs, Luís Barbosa, Poco, Hilow, D1scofever B2B Mike Tech, Macow & Gonga, Romeu Bairos, Sandro G2, We Sea, Choppers, Espama Trincana, Hilow B2B Tójó, Junkbreed, Manolo, Passos Pesados and Rafa.
Tickets, camping and the practical bit
Tickets are on sale through See Tickets and at MEO stores, with JM Eventos organising. There is camping right by the site, which solves the most annoying problem with an island festival: where you sleep afterwards.
Book accommodation and a hire car early. The first half of August is the busiest stretch of the year on São Miguel, and things go fast. If you’re island-hopping, it’s worth lining the dates up against Semana do Mar over in Horta, which fills Faial later in the month.
Day-by-day line-ups and entry conditions are published on the festival’s official site.
Image: kuhnmi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
