Looking for the best music festivals in Portugal in 2023? Well, look no further, as I’ve put together this incredible guide to upcoming events and Portugal festivals to add to your bucket list!
Superseding some of its Mediterranean neighbors in popularity, Portugal has become the European hotspot to be! Tourists flock here year-round, and summers see a particularly huge influx of visitors. They come to bask in the hot summer sun, live it up in the buzzing capital of Lisbon, or to swim in the crystal clear waters the Iberian Peninsula location has up and down its long coastline.
More than ever before, music festivals in Portugal are receiving international acclaim – and for all the right reasons. With an appreciation for everything from electronic to rock, alternative to pop, Portugal certainly knows how to throw a party!
The 17 Best Portugal Music Festivvals
1) NOS Alive Festival 2023
One of the most iconic Festival Portugal experiences | Photo via Facebook
When: July 6-8, 2023
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
https://www.facebook.com/NOSalivePortugal
“NOS Alive is one of Europe’s most respected indie, rock, and alternative music festivals held close to the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon. Famed for its consistently outstanding lineups, the festival attracts artists and music fans alike from across the globe.
In addition to the numerous rock and indie legends that have graced the festival’s stages over the last decade – Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys – the festival’s musical programming also extends into pop, hip-hop, RnB, disco, house and more, with the likes of Disclosure, The Weeknd and The Chemical Brothers headlining in recent years.”
It’s one of the biggest and best festivals in the country (and all of Europe)!
Join the NOS ALIVE Festival Portugal 2023 for more information!
2) Secret Project Festival 2023
My personal favorite Portugal Festival
When: June 2023
Where: Portimao Beach, Portugal (Algarve)
https://portugal.secretproject.com
https://www.facebook.com/secretprojectfestival
Secret Project Festival is one of the newest Insomniac productions that debuted in Portugal last year, having previously organized amazing festivals in Los Angeles and Amsterdam!
Offering one of the most insanely stacked line-ups that all of Europe has ever seen, for fans of techno, house, minimal, and drum and bass – this is simply a must attend! Offering three-days of incredible music on a scenic beach in Southern Portugal, this is guaranteed to be a weekend adventure for the record books!
I was able to attend and photograph this festival myself in 2022, and it was truly a highlight of my summer! It’s one of my new favorite festivals in Europe, and easily one of the coolest beach parties you’ll ever attend.
3) Super Bock Super Rock Festival 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: July 13-15, 2023
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
https://www.superbocksuperrock.pt
https://www.facebook.com/sbsr/
“Super Bock Super Rock is one of of Portugal’s biggest and best-loved music festivals, held in the capital city of Lisbon. Over the years, the festival has developed an enviable reputation for hugely impressive lineups that regularly feature some of the worlds biggest music stars.
Although strongly rooted in rock music – as the name suggests – the festival has also expanded its reach to include pop, hip hop and electronic music, with appearance in recent years from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Future, Fatboy Slim and Disclosure to name just a few. Now firmly settled in its city-centre home of Parque De Nações, the festival offers three days of revelry in the heart of the country’s bustling capital.”
4) MEO Marés Vivas Festival 2023
When: July 14-16, 2023
Where: Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
“Marés Vivas is a music festival in Portugal. Its recent lineups have included Goo Goo Dolls, Diogo Picarra, Tom Chaplin and more.
Urbane, all-encompassing and an absolute must”, that’s how the Marés Vivas Festival (Living Tides Festival) is being described, which is taking place by the Rio Douro estuary in Vila Nova de Gaia. Have you already bought your ticket?”
5) MEO Sudoeste Festival 2023
A Portugal Festival spectacle you’ll love | Photo via Facebook
When: August 9-12, 2023
Where: Zambujera do Mar, Portugal
https://www.facebook.com/MEOSudoeste
“MEO Sudoeste is a huge summer festival held each year in the coastal town of Zambujera do Mar, Portugal. With a lineup that unites superstar DJs and rap royalty, as well as a selection of reggae, pop, rock and indie, the festival is a perfect party to celebrate the height of summer.
Now in its third decade, having hosted the very first edition back in 1997, MEO Sudoeste has deservedly become one of the most eagerly anticipated Portuguese festivals every year.”
6) Andanças Festival 2023
A unique cultural Portugal Festival | Photo via Facebook | Juliano Mattos
When: August 2023
Where: Castelo de Vide, Portugal
https://www.facebook.com/andancas/
“This year the festival will once again embrace the village, as it happened in the last edition, and the village will once again embrace one Andanças. Return to Roda Viva on the streets of Castelo de Vide in August. With another day of programming, the festival will bring music, dance and other activities.
For 5 days, participants will be able to wander through the streets, squares and gardens of the village, dance in the church or on the horizon, try local products, visit spaces and monuments, learn about culture, peek at crafts, rest on the grass overlooking the mountain range, climb to Penha or go to Póvoa e Meadas and stroll through nature, in an edition that intends to maintain quality and diversity in the programming and perpetuate the concept of the festival as a meeting place, experiences and creation.”
7) Boom Festival Portugal 2023
Photo via Facebook | Murilo Ganesh
When: July 20-27, 2023
Where: Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal
https://www.facebook.com/boomfestivalofficialpage/
Celebrating 26 years of boom in 2024!
“Boom is a biannual electronic and world music festival based in Portugal, with an audience capacity of 33,333. Boom Festival began in 1997 as a psychedelic trance music festival, but has now diversified to include a range of DJs, live music and visual arts performances. Boom is powered by a mix of off-grid photovoltaic panels, diesel generators and a 100kW waste vegetable oil (WVO) generator.
Boom has won the Greener Festival Excellence Award four times (2008, 2010, 2012 & 2014), and in 2010 won the YOUROPE Green & Clean Festival of the Year; which led to Boom becoming a participant in the United Nations Music & Environment Initiative.”
Expect lots of non-stop psy-trance and techno for a week straight in a very welcoming festival community. There is SO much to this festival, and my friends who have attended absolutely RAVE about it. Just prepare yourself with all the proper festival camping essentials, as it can get super hot in the summer (but you can cool off by swimming in the water). Tickets can be hard to come by, so plan well in advance!
8) Neopop Electronic Music Festival 2023
A Portugal Music Festival for ravers | Photo via Facebook
When: August 10-12, 2023
Where: Viana do Castelo (Northern Portugal)
https://neopopfestival.com/home/home
https://www.facebook.com/neopopfestival/
“Neopop is Portugal’s most respected electronic music festival, held in the coastal town of Viana do Castelo. Each summer, the festival invites a lineup packed with techno royalty to the historic port for three days of partying and musical appreciation, metres from the Atlantic Ocean.
With live performances and DJ sets from some of the underground’s most exciting talent, Neopop has become a bucket-list festival for techno fans across the continent, looking to experience their favourite sounds in a beautiful historic setting.”
9) Rock In Rio Lisboa 2023
A festival in Portugal that can’t be missed next year | Photo via Facebook
When: July 2023 (Two Weekends)
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
https://rockinriolisboa.sapo.pt
https://www.facebook.com/rockinriolisboa
“Rock in Rio Lisboa is the Portuguese edition of the iconic rock festival, born in Brazil’s famous party city. Now part of a recognised cycle whereby the legendary brand alternates between South America and Europe, the Lisbon version is now very established in its own right, with editions dating back to 2004 and lineups that can challenge those of any festival on the planet.
Every two years, the city’s Bela Vista Park welcomes musical megastars from all manner of genres, from rock legends to modern pop icons, for a phenomenal five-day fiesta in the Portuguese capital.”
10) NOS Primavera Sound 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: June 7-10, 2023
Where: Porto, Portugal
https://www.primaverasound.com/en/porto
“NOS Primavera Sound is an eclectic alternative music festival in Porto, Portugal. Founded in 2011, this is the younger sibling to the revered Barcelona festival of the same name. Like its older sibling, the Portuguese outing shares the unerring dedication to showcasing fresh and exciting new music, on a lineup that is consistently one of the best in Europe.
Recent editions have welcomed leading lights from an array of styles and genres, including Aphex Twin, Run the Jewels, PJ Harvey and Sigur Rós. Where the festival differs from its Spanish sibling is its setting and surroundings, not simply by virtue of being in another country and city. Rather than the modern industrial surroundings of Barcelona’s Parc del Forum, NOS Primavera Sound nestles among lush greenery in Porto’s picturesque Parque da Cidade.”
11) EDP Beach Party
Photo via Facebook
When: June (Future Dates TBA)
Where: Matosinhos, Portugal
“EDP Beach Party is an electronic music festival held in Matosinhos, Portugal. An established favourite in the region, the festival regularly welcomes hugely impressive dance music lineups headlined by some of the biggest DJs in the world. Across the weekend, thousands of music fans take to the sands of the city’s Praia de Leça for a bombastic celebration complete with huge sound systems, staging, production and pyrotechnics.”
12) Lisboa Dance Festival
Photo via Facebook
When: March
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
“Lisboa Dance Festival is an electronic music festival in Lisbon, Portugal. Celebrating its third edition in 2018, the festival will one again look to reflect the most exciting trends in electronic music, showcasing music talent from both Portugal and further afield. The city’s creative hub also plays host to workshops, talks and a market in addition to the extensive array of DJs and performers, making for an extensive exploration of dance music and its culture.”
13) Paredes de Coura Festival 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: August 16-19, 2023
Where: Paredes de Coura, Portugal
https://www.paredesdecoura.com
https://www.facebook.com/festivalparedesdecoura
“Paredes de Coura Festival is an alternative music festival in northern Portugal. Situated in the scenic riverside Praia do Taboão, the festival’s location is almost unrivalled in terms of natural beauty, with picturesque woodland and inviting waters open for exploration.
The festival is one of the country’s most established, and across its rich history it has developed an enviable reputation not only for securing high profile performers from across the globe, but also for showcasing exciting new acts on their ascent to stardom.”
14) VOA Heavy Rock Festival 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: June (TBC)
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
“VOA Heavy Rock Festival is one of Portugal’s biggest and best known festivals for hard rock and heavy metal music, taking place in the country’s capital city of Lisbon.
Formerly known as Vagos Open Air, and latterly VOA Fest following the change of location in 2016, the festival returns as VOA Heavy Rock Festival after a year-off last summer, in its new home of the Estádio do Restelo.
Whatever name it has gone by, over the years the festival has developed a reputation for hosting top level talent from both Portugal and from across the world. And with metal icons Slipknot topping the lineup for this edition that doesn’t look like changing any time soon.”
15) Sumol Summer Fest 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: July 2023
Where: Ericeria, Portugal
http://sumolsummerfest.com/en/bilhetes/
https://www.facebook.com/sumolsummerfest/
“Sumol Summer Fest is a two-day music festival in Ericeria, Portugal. With a skate park, a famous surf spot and gorgeous golden sands on its doorstep, Sumol is the perfect combination between music festival and summer getaway. Each year, a lineup of DJs, rappers and performers head to the seaside town for a weekend of big beats and phenomenal partying, as the summer sounds of hip hop, house, reggae and dancehall ring out across the Atlantic coast.”
16) RFM Somnii 2023
Photo via Facebook
When: July 7-9, 2023
Where: Figueira da Foz, Portugal
https://www.visitportugal.com/en/content/rfm-somnii
In July, come and be part of the RFM SOMNII in Figueira da Foz, an unmissable event that promises to be the best sunset party ever.
“For three days, the RFM SOMNII will be bringing the huge beach of Praia do Relógio in Figueira da Foz to life, with the sounds of the best DJs in the world. Sun, beach and plenty of electronic music in a wonderful natural setting are the ingredients of this festival, a unique experience that attracts a bigger and bigger audience year by year.
Imposing staging, spectacular pyrotechnics, and huge sound systems accompany the impressive lineup of DJs as the sun goes down and the party continues into the early hours.”
17) BPM Portugal
Photo via Facebook | Alec Donnell Luna
When: September (Dates TBA)
Where: Portimao & Lagoa, Algarve
Last, but certainly not least -what started out in Mexico as one of the best techno parties in the world, BPM Festival has found a new home location in the beautiful southern coast of Portugal. With a star studded line-up, gorgeous venues, and quality international atmosphere- music festival addicts will absolutely fall in love with BPM Festival.
I’ve had friends who have attended, and they’ve all said it’s an absolute blast! I’m definitely going to try and make it this year, that is if I have the strength after Burning Man, lol.
2023 Update: BPM Festival is hosting an edition in Costa Rica, but here’s to hoping they organize a festival in Portugal this upcoming summer!
Am I Missing Any Epic Music Festivals in Portugal in 2023?
Please, let me know! I’m always looking for amazing new Portugal Festivals to add to this list, and would love to hear from you! Are you planning on attending any of these this year?
Looking for more international music festivals…?
I’ve spent countless hours compiling the best festivals around the world, so check out some of these articles below and start planning your next international adventure:
Thanks so much for reading everyone!
If you’re not already, be sure to check out my Instagram & Facebook to follow my global adventures. I’m always attending crazy festivals, and definitely planning on making it back to Portugal this summer! Until, safe travels and festival shenanigans!!
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