The event, which originated in Toulouse, France, in 2002, aims to “bring a free-entry program focused on the future of music to gardens worldwide.” Its 2025 edition is being promoted by Casa das Artes Bissaya Barreto.
The festival kicks off on Friday at 6:00 PM with DJ Son Objet, the stage name of Porto-based visual artist Isabel Pereira, whose work “explores strange and experimental sounds from the DIY universe, combining them with unconventional contemporary compositions,” according to the organizers.
Following her is French artist Vanessa Bedoret, based in London, who has a background in classical music and explores “experimental productions as a means of crystallizing her personal experiences.”
Also performing on Friday are Amuleto Apotropaico, Takkak Takkak, and Beatrice M. Amuleto Apotropaico is a duo consisting of António Ferreira (drums and electronics) and Francisco Pedro Oliveira (guitar, flute, and electronics), known for developing “a way of casting out demons through secular spiritualism rooted in the infinite possibilities of noise.”
The project Takkak Takkak, created by Japanese Shigeru Ishihara and Indonesian Mo’ong Santoso Pribadi, results in an “explosive duo forged in admiration for polyrhythms and ritualism that induce trance states.”
The Asian artists, according to promoters, “possess a contagious and fearless energy, but above all, they are unbridled—they are on stage to have fun.”
Beatrice M. concludes Friday’s lineup with a “mix of syncopated sounds from the UK, mainly ‘dubstep,'” and has been recognized by electronic music magazine Resident Advisor as one of the artists leading the revival of this musical style.
On Saturday, the Festival Les Siestes schedule begins with the trio I’A’V—initials for Inês Malheiro (voice), Arianna Casellas (cello), and Violeta Azevedo (flute)—presenting “dreamy songs that blend into a long and volatile poem,” with electronics “full of arpeggios, glassy textures, and ruptures.”
Next is Scottish bagpiper Harry Górski-Brown, who is dedicated to transforming traditional music with electronic processing. In his latest album, released in 2024, Górski-Brown reimagines Gaelic folk with voice, bagpipes, violin, organ, bouzouki, and electronics.
At 8:00 PM, Jardim da Sereia hosts Rat Section, an enigmatic music and performance project currently based in London, known for their choreographed concerts “and for adapting performances to the spaces where they present them.”
Saturday’s program concludes with Loto Retina, “a unique journey where speed, spontaneity, and fantasy converge to captivate the audience,” and Dutch DJ Zohar, recognized as “increasingly a pillar in the Netherlands’ electronic scene,” where she has carved out “a diverse and eclectic musical path, with low frequencies and rhythmic tension as common denominators.”
