Official Rock & Dão festival artwork showing the dates 18 and 19 September 2026 in Viseu

What's On 26 August 2026

Viseu gets its first Rock & Dão festival in September, and a day ticket now costs €40

The opening edition takes over Parque Urbano de Santiago on 18 and 19 September, with Mika and UB40 feat. Ali Campbell heading a bill of eight acts. Day tickets are €40 and the two-day pass is €65.

When: 18 September 2026
Where: Parque Urbano de Santiago, Viseu
Price: Day ticket €40; two-day pass €65 (second phase)
Organizer: Rock & Dão

Viseu has a new festival in three weeks’ time, and it is not content to just put up stages. It puts the region’s wine on the same ticket. Rock & Dão runs its first edition on 18 and 19 September at Parque Urbano de Santiago, inside the city itself, which makes it one of the very few September bills you can walk to from your hotel.

Who is playing

Eight acts have been announced for the main stage, four a night. Friday the 18th brings Os Pontos Negros, Cassete Pirata, David Bruno and Mika. Saturday the 19th has Ganso, Samuel Úria, Delfins and UB40 feat. Ali Campbell. The festival’s own artists page lists those eight and nobody else, and the second stage, though announced, still has no names against it. Two weeks to fill it.

The logic of the bill is easy to read. Mika and UB40 cover the international slot and the songs everyone already knows the words to. David Bruno, Samuel Úria and Cassete Pirata cover the Portuguese acts that nobody sings along to but everyone recognises. Delfins cover the nostalgia. For a first edition that is a reasonably safe bet without being a lazy one.

What it costs now

The first ticket phase has come off sale. In the second phase, which is what you will find at the official box office, a day ticket is €40 and the two-day pass is €65. Children aged 7 to 16 pay €17.50 a day or €30 for the pass. There is also a premium option with access to a pit area at the front of the stage, at €65 a day and €110 for both nights.

Anyone waiting on the opening prices announced back in July has missed them by about five euros. Not a disaster, but the usual argument for buying early.

Wine, food and the rest of it

Alongside the music the organisers promise Dão wine tastings and a food programme on site, which is the thing separating this from any other rock festival with a regional name stuck on the front. The park sits minutes from Viseu’s historic centre, which solves the most tedious problem of a September festival: sleeping and eating without a tent.

September is busy elsewhere too. Further north, the Indie Music Fest returns to Baltar from the 3rd to the 5th, so a determined weekend could take in both.

By Leonor Sampaio

Image: Rock & Dão

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