“What impressed me, or exceeded what I expected, is a certain enthusiasm felt around the Braga25 program, reflected in numbers, visitors, and events,” said Luís Fernandes, the artistic program coordinator, in an interview. “It is a very ambitious program, not only quantitatively, but also as it covers many areas in the artistic spectrum.”
The figures, revealed today, demonstrate the high pace of the first six months, with 1,069 artistic activities, including 312 shows, 70 exhibitions, and 324 community mediation and participation actions.
In total, 728,656 spectators attended, with the majority at exhibitions (614,795), followed by music (52,948) and theater (9,254).
Highlights included performances by Tiago Rodrigues, director of the Avignon Theater Festival, with his new play “No Yogurt for the Dead,” the debut of the National Theater of São Carlos with “a medium-scale opera,” and the celebration of the centenary of Carlos Paredes with Mário Laginha.
The majority of the artistic programming involves local creators, with 54% of the participating professionals being local, complemented by 30% national artists, and 16% international guests.
Additionally, more than half of the programmed activities included accessibility measures, ranging from adapted sessions to other responses.
“To me, it’s evident that these types of events have a capacity-building profile, fostering the vitality of the local artistic fabric. This is achieved not only by bringing in renowned artists who can inspire and empower but also by working with the local community, laying the foundations for future development. Much of Braga’25’s work has a community dimension,” he stated.
Luís Fernandes noted that programs like Desejar were created in dialogue with “different communities living in Braga — immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, young people, adolescents,” among others, enhancing the regular programming of spaces like Theatro Circo and Gnration with “additional arguments.”
The inclusion of architecture and public space in the programming, often overlooked in the past, and the continuation of traditional cycles and projects have given dimension to the Capital, while the Todo-o-Terreno program supported ten independent programming initiatives, a sign of “cultural vitality of a city.”
“These are the most relevant ideas that a Capital can leave behind. An open path to broader, inclusive, and participatory cultural policies, diluting the usual weight attributed to municipal institutions,” he added.
The “curiosity and interest” of the public, and the community’s involvement, surprised Luís Fernandes because, regardless of the quality or relevance of the proposals, “connecting with audiences is not always possible.”
“Nowadays, audiences generally tend to seek what is more familiar, with less curiosity about new things, because today there are many ways to spend time, many of which involve staying home. This difficulty faced by cultural programmers daily put some restraint on expectations. But [the doubts] completely vanished,” he commented.
In the second half of the year, there will be “no slowdown at all, maintaining the high standards,” with the Julho é de Jazz festival featuring, among others, a concert by trumpeter Peter Evans with the Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra, and a project bringing together guitarist Ava Mendoza and drummer Brad Jones with the Braga quartet Forward.
The Extremo festival occupies a day, from sunrise to well after sunset, with proposals from the electronic music field and in partnership with the Guimarães City Council, taking place at Monte de Santa Marta das Cortiças and the local churches.
Amid film cycles, the continuation of Forma de Vizinhança and Braga’s Noite Branca, the programming nears its final phase, with a commission by Daniel Blaufuks, whose film “On That Day in Lisbon,” scored by Matthew Herbert, will be shown on September 27, a day before its presentation at Lisbon’s Culturgest.
In music, highlights include a performance of “In C,” Terry Riley’s famous 1964 composition, honored on his 90th birthday by a group of Portuguese musicians conducted by maestro Pedro Carneiro.
The Castro-Galaico Festival, as part of various approaches to Galicia by Braga’25, the new circus event Vaudeville Rendez-Vous, the Sons do Noroeste, Semibreve, and Utopia Braga are among the proposals until the end of the year in the district capital.
Luís Fernandes also notes the upcoming visit of the National Ballet Company in October, the public policy thinking and discussion program Scenarios, from Teatro Municipal D. Maria II, in November, and the world premiere of Marco Martins’ new show in December.
After this year, when Braga hands over the title to Ponta Delgada, the next Portuguese Capital of Culture, “various actions” will continue.
“The Supracasa program, supporting new creations in performing arts, will be absorbed into Theatro Circo’s program. It’s a legacy that will remain. Many others are under discussion, also dependent on financing mechanisms,” he revealed.
