5th Edition under "Basic Instinct"

Operafest Lisboa returns for a fifth year with new partners, as well as new venues, as the event extends its reach to the town of Oeiras and the wonderful gardens of the Marquês Pombal Palace, which will host opera for the very first time, boosting audience numbers with an exciting programme! Back to Lisbon with new epicentre in open-air amphiteatre of Gulbenkian Foundation, but also taking place in Trienal de Lisboa, Cinemateca Portugesa, Auditorium el corte inglés and bar Titanic sur mer.

Directed by soprano Catarina Molder and produced by Ópera do Castelo, Operafest has built and retained an impressive and loyal audience, garnering excellent reviews from home and abroad. While achieving such unprecedented results, it has established itself as one of the most "outside the box" festivals in Europe, as well as a showcase for Portuguese talent, combining tradition and the avant-garde to bring opera up to date.

This edition’s theme is Basic Instinct, which evokes our attraction to extreme situations, passing a point of no return that leaves us on the verge of total destruction. This year also celebrates the 500th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant and fascinating Luíz Vaz de Camões, who is considered to be Portugal's greatest cultural figure, one of the greatest poets of all time and the father of our language.

Exploring opera in wide-ranging fashion, while focusing on renewal at all levels, Operafest offers a diverse summer line-up for all musical and dramatic tastes, divided into programmes with different objectives and offerings: GREAT CLASSICS: "Cavalleria rusticana" & "Pagliacci" 22nd, 24th, 26th AGU, Palácio Marquês de Pombal Gardens; "Don Giovanni" 30th, 31st AUG 2nd , 4th SEP Open-air amphiteatre Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. AUDIENCE OF THE FUTURE & INEDITED "Little Thumb" 28th to 31st AUG, Palácio Marquês de Pombal Gardens, MARATONA ÓPERA XXI – New Libretto Workshops and Awards OPERA SATELLITE: "Torment", 5th and 6th SET, Trienal de Lisboa, "Operatic Rave", 7th SEP, Titanic sur mer; Workshops & Conferences, Auditório el corte inglés CINE-OPERA Cinemateca Portuguesa (7th to 11th SET).

Welcome to Operafest Lisboa and the tragic world of opera!