The Paredes de Coura festival kicks off its 30th edition today, after several days of music in the town, with a line-up that ranges from Andre 3000 and Killer Mike to Sleater-Kinney, Protomartyr and Idles, among others.
According to the festival’s director, João Carvalho, in this edition, which runs until Saturday, “the big news is repetition”.
“It’s the repetition of a successful formula, whether it’s the hiring of artists, the musical curation of the festival, or the conditions,” said João Carvalho, speaking to Lusa weeks before the event.
“Once again we have a Paredes de Coura style line-up, with big names like Cat Power, Fontaines D.C., Killer Mike, Sampha, Andre 3000, and then big new acts like Nourished by Time, Destroy Boys, Glass Beams, Sextile,” said João Carvalho.
The list of artists and bands also includes Idles, Girl in Red, The Jesus And The Mary Chain, Slowdive, Slow J, Baxter Dury, Gilsons, Nouvelle Vague, Allah-Las, Branko, Wolf Manhattan and Conferência Inferno, among others.
The shows are divided into three stages at the venue next to the Taboão river beach: a main stage, a secondary stage, “which becomes an after-hours stage after 02:00”, and the Jazz na Relva stage.
According to João Carvalho, the organization has invested “a lot in the conditions” it offers the public.
“It’s a festival of sensitivities, which heals people, tries to be the most affectionate and the most tender and the most supportive with the people who visit us,” he said.
That’s why “once again” new camping areas have been created – “there’s a luxury glamping site that has tripled in size compared to last year”, now “all the toilets are connected to the sewage system”, and there are also “new restaurant areas, bigger than last year’s”.
“We have the difficulty of there being no hotels in Paredes de Coura, so we try to create the best conditions within our limitations,” he said.
The festival, which many people call “couraíso”, has a maximum capacity of 25,000 people per day and this year the expectation is that it will be full for all four days.
The easiest way to get to the festival by public transport is by Rede Expressos bus.
Anyone who chooses to take a car should take as their point of reference Highway 3 (A3), which connects Porto to Valença. “Paredes de Coura is now just five minutes from the freeway exit, and that’s not a stretch of the imagination, it’s five minutes. Which is fantastic for those coming from Porto, Lisbon and the Algarve,” said João Carvalho.
According to the festival organizers, there are parking lots in the town center, about 900 metres from the venue.
A four-day pass to Vodafone Paredes de Coura costs 120 euros. There are also day tickets, which cost 60 euros.
The program for the 30th edition includes the presentation of the book “Paraíso de Coura”, which brings together images taken by Alfredo Cunha at the festival, which has been held every summer since 1993.
The Paredes de Coura festival took place for the first time in 1993 on the initiative of a group of friends, including the current mayor of Paredes de Coura, who wanted to organize an event dedicated to independent rock.
