Festa Do Jazz

Festa do Jazz is the biggest jazz festival celebrating Portuguese Jazz, taking place in Lisbon annually since 2003, produced by Associação Sons da Lusofonia.

Each year, the festival invites jazz actors from across the country to come together as a collective force that is vital to the fabric of Portuguese culture and society. Festa do Jazz provides a platform for associations, performers, schools, and researchers to come together and debate important topics and developments.

The main focus of the concert program is Portuguese jazz and consists of two main pillars for the main concerts. Alongside the presentation of new works by established artists, often in collaboration with international artists, Festa do Jazz has also been the main stage for emerging Portuguese jazz artists. 

Apart from the main concert program, the National Encounter of Jazz Schools has been a vital part of the festival in order to reveal great national talent in the earliest stages of their careers, before they graduate from jazz schools. Promoted since the first edition of the Festa, the Encounter emerged also as an effective strategy for developing new audiences. It serves as an annual snapshot of the variety of students, teachers and other agents that contribute to and benefit from jazz education in Portugal. The close relationship between Festa do Jazz and jazz education in Portugal illustrates how the festival has been a formal response to a growing movement.

The presence of Portuguese jazz labels at Festa do Jazz shows how established and independent Portuguese jazz labels form an extremely dynamic sector. The contribution of promoters as judges for contests, guest curators, or speakers in public debate sessions places them at the core of the festival. And by hosting so many different artists, Festa do Jazz does not only offer an excellent sample of the multidimensional, diverse and dynamic reality of Portuguese jazz, but by doing so, provides it with a privileged and annual platform.

Find more about the festival here.