Porto's book fair runs 17 days this year, and 20 of its concerts are free
The 13th Feira do Livro do Porto takes over the Palácio de Cristal gardens from 21 August to 6 September: 144 stands, 200-plus events, a tribute to poet Inês Lourenço and music every evening at seven.
Seventeen days of books, twenty concerts, no ticket. The Feira do Livro do Porto takes over the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal from 21 August to 6 September for its 13th edition, and the growth this year is in the programme rather than the retail: 144 stands, but more than 200 events.
The music is the easiest part to plan around, because it keeps the same slot. There is a concert in the gardens every evening at 7pm, and the run of names covers several generations of Portuguese music: Manuela Azevedo and Hélder Gonçalves open on 21 August, Os Comuns follow the next night, and in between come Janeiro with Tatanka, Catarina Branco and Éme, Malva and Beatriz Madruga, S. PEDRO and Elisa, Latte and ZARKO, Mimi Froes with Miguel Marôco, Afonso Cabral and Francisca Cortesão, Osso Vaidoso, João Só and Tiago Nogueira, Almo and Júlio Resende. On 29 August it is Mão Verde, the project bringing together Capicua, Francisca Cortesão, Pedro Geraldes and António Serginho. Lena d’Água closes it on 6 September with Benjamim as her guest.
The tribute is what this edition is built around
This year is given over to poetry and to the work of Inês Lourenço, with more than a dozen events and an exhibition, “Na Lâmina Implacável do Tempo”, curated by Rita Roque at the Almeida Garrett municipal library. A tribute concert on 22 August features Sofia Lourenço, the poet’s daughter, and opening night brings a staged reading of her work about the war in Palestine.
Teresa Coutinho programmes the fair, Helena Teixeira da Silva curates the tribute, and João Gesta runs the special sessions and the Quintas de Leitura, which move outdoors on 3 September at 10pm.
Opening hours, and the bit worth knowing
Monday to Friday the fair opens at noon and closes at 9pm; weekends it opens at 11am. On Friday and Saturday nights it stays open until 10pm. Entry is free, though some activities are capped or need booking, which in practice means turning up early for anything aimed at babies and families — there are 83 of those sessions and they fill.
If you are bringing children, the closing weekend is the one to look at: 5 and 6 September carry the Bebé em Cena sessions, a reworked Sleeping Beauty staged by Beatriz Brás with music by Martim Sousa Tavares, and a conversation about cities and their books with Mário Cláudio and Isabel Pires de Lima. If the gardens already sound like summer to you, that is because they hosted the Noites nos Jardins do Palácio season a few weeks ago — this time there is nothing to pay at the gate.
Image: Feira do Livro do Porto / Câmara Municipal do Porto
