The festival will span four days at Vila Adentro, from September 4 to 7, instead of the usual three, with the last day aligning with the celebrations of the City Day and featuring a lineup aimed at children and teenagers, stated Mayor Paulo Santos.
Ana Moura, Diogo Piçarra, Bárbara Bandeira, Bispo, and Dino D’Santiago are among the artists on the lineup for the 10th edition of Festival F, which, according to Santos, provides a “snapshot” of Portuguese music for the current year.
Focus is also given to emerging artists, who “may be stepping onto a real stage for the first time,” he noted. The team organizing Festival F, consisting of the local council and promoter Sons em Trânsito, performs an “in-depth work” throughout the year.
“In essence, over the last few months, they are sketching what is emerging, what should be highlighted in hip-hop, rock, jazz. In other words, we try to cover all music genres, finding a balance between emerging and established artists,” Santos indicated.
Of the nine stages that make up the venue, one has a capacity for 18,000 people while another is limited to 100, he exemplified, adding that this requires a setup that is surprising and comfortable for both the audience and the artists.
With an average of 10,000 to 15,000 visitors entering the venue each day in previous editions, Paulo Santos estimates that this average will either remain steady or possibly increase, highlighting that since the first edition, the festival has seen over 350,000 visitors and 500 bands perform.
Being a festival with programming that caters to various age groups, families play a significant role in the design of the lineup, which aims to be inclusive, Santos added.
“Every year we have – young people up to 12 years of age can enter the festival free of charge, provided they are accompanied by an adult – and every year over 1,000 youths attend each day of Festival F. This clearly shows that Festival F is indeed a family festival,” he noted.
The first edition of Festival F was in 2014, lasting two days. Since then, the number of days, attendees, and the area it occupies in the city have increased.
Initially, the venue had a capacity for around 5,000 people per day, and now it can host approximately 24,000 attendees.
This year’s festival attendees can enjoy performances by artists and bands such as Bárbara Bandeira, Ana Moura, Dino D’Santiago with the Algarve Orchestra, Julinho KSD, Nenny, Buba Espinho, Mundo Segundo & Sam The Kid, Ana Bacalhau, Bateu Matou, Margarida Campelo, Amaura, Pedro da Linha, Cassete Pirata, Tara Perdida, Lena D’Água, Maria Reis, Scúru Fitchádu, Napa, among many others.
Daily tickets for the festival are priced at 22 euros for September 4, 5, and 6, and 10 euros for September 7. A general pass costs 60 euros.
Children up to 12 years old, inclusive, do not require a ticket.
