The organization announced today that the 2026 edition will take place from September 17 to 20 at the former Afonso Domingues Industrial School, which will “be the festival’s new home until 2027”.
The school was officially closed in 2010 due to its location in the path of the Third Crossing over the Tagus project, between Chelas and Barreiro, which was to facilitate the passage of high-speed trains.
At its closure, the school, inaugurated in 1956—which was attended by figures like Nobel laureate author José Saramago, former PCP leader Jerónimo de Sousa, and football manager Fernando Santos—had 290 students and 80 teachers.
“Festival Iminente now takes on the challenge of symbolically reopening this space to the public, reintroducing it as a venue of vibrant culture, civic engagement, and artistic experimentation,” states the organization, emphasizing that “the choice of this new location aligns with one of Iminente’s main missions: occupying unused urban spaces or those with historically exclusive connotations and returning them to the city and its community as arenas for creation and gathering”.
The Festival Iminente, which combines music and visual arts, was first held in the Municipal Garden of Oeiras in 2016, returning there the following year. After two editions in Oeiras, it moved to Lisbon’s Panorâmico de Monsanto in 2018, where it was held again in 2019.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival transformed into Oficina Iminente, an artistic residency at Panorâmico de Monsanto, with the audience participating in the creative process.
In 2021 and 2022, the festival returned to its original format in an outdoor area in Matinha. In 2023, it took over Terreiro do Paço and, last year, the gardens of the Pimenta Palace—Museum of Lisbon, both editions offering free admission.
The lineup for the 2026 edition and the date ticket sales begin will be announced soon.
The festival’s 10th anniversary “will be marked by several initiatives over the coming months,” starting on the 21st of this month at Praça do Carvão—MAAT Central, within the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) complex.
At the Bairros event, an initiative of Iminente in partnership with the EDP Foundation, the artistic work developed by artists and the community in Lisbon neighborhoods will be presented as part of the Bairros – Iminente Community Artistic Workshops project.
The event, which is free to the public, includes exhibitions, music, films, performances, fashion, workshops, and gastronomy.
