Free this weekend in Portugal? Alfama puts fado on ten stages and the Feiras Novas turn 200
What is on from 11 to 13 September: Caixa Alfama with more than 60 singers, the 73rd Festa de Alcoutim on the Guadiana, two nights in Porto's Palácio de Cristal gardens, Sigur Rós with an orchestra, and an Alentejo fair that shuts at three in the morning.
September is when the whole country seems to say goodbye to summer at once. Between Friday and Sunday there is fado coming out of ten different corners of Alfama, a 200-year-old pilgrimage in the Minho, three nights on the bank of the Guadiana and an orchestral Sunday in Porto. Six plans, and no two of them in the same region.
Lisbon: fado scattered across a neighbourhood
Caixa Alfama returns on 11 and 12 September for its 14th edition, with more than 60 artists spread across ten stages — the Fado Museum and its auditorium, the Sociedade Boa União, the churches of São Miguel and Santo Estêvão, the Memmo Alfama and the Largo de São Miguel among them. This year’s edition is dedicated to the fadista Rodrigo. Friday brings “Em Casa d’Amália ao Vivo” and Raquel Tavares to the main stage at the cruise terminal; Saturday belongs to Carminho, with Aldina Duarte at the Centro Cultural Dr. Magalhães Lima and Gonçalo Salgueiro on a rooftop.
Entry works by wristband, and each venue fills to its own capacity, so the small rooms reward turning up early. The two-day pass costs 50.47 euros and a single day 38.66, fees included, and the festival keeps its full listing on its own site. RTP1 broadcasts highlights late on both nights.
Alcoutim: a road closed to make room for the cars
The 73rd Festa de Alcoutim runs from 11 to 13 September in the far north-east of the Algarve, with the river in front and Spain on the other side. Friday doubles as the municipality’s own holiday and is headlined by Tony Carreira. David Antunes & The Midnight Band play Saturday with Jéssica Cipriano; Ivandro closes the main concerts on Sunday.
The practical side is worth as much as the bill. The council has laid on a shuttle service linking Vaqueiros, Martim Longo, Giões and Pereiro to the village across all three days, and it is closing the N122-1 to southbound traffic between 5pm Friday and 7am Saturday so one side of the road can be used for parking. Timetables and the programme sit on the council’s own page for the festival.
Ponte de Lima: two centuries of Feiras Novas
The Feiras Novas take over the town until Monday, marking 200 years since the royal charter that created them. Sunday’s historical parade is the peak, and a decent spot by the Lima river goes to whoever arrives first. We ran through the day-by-day programme when it was finalised.
Porto: two nights in the gardens, one Sunday in the Coliseu
Noites dos Jardins do Palácio takes over the Palácio de Cristal gardens on Friday and Saturday, doors at 6pm both days. Pedro Abrunhosa, Tiago Nacarato and Rita Rocha open; T-Rex, Bárbara Bandeira and Nenny take Saturday. We covered the line-up and the tickets for both nights when they were announced.
Sunday could hardly be more different. Sigur Rós play the Coliseu with the Sinfonietta de Lisboa and the Coro Ricercare, part of the orchestral tour built around their album ÁTTA.
Portalegre: the fair that shuts at three in the morning
The Feira das Cebolas is at the Parque de Feiras e Exposições until Sunday, with roughly 230 exhibitors, livestock auctions, an equestrian gala and free buses to the site. It is the Alentejo fair that opens at six in the evening and closes before dawn, and the Bandidos do Cante see it out on Sunday night.
If you can only do one, choose by geography. The north has the pilgrimage, Porto has the concerts, the south has the river. Lisbon has the fado, and it has it this weekend only.
Image: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
