Avante! Festival
| Festa do Avante! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Cultural |
| Dates | First week of September |
| Location(s) | Amora, Seixal, Portugal |
| Years active | 1976-Present |
| Founded by | PCP |
| Website | |
| http://www.festadoavante.pcp.pt/ | |
Every year, in the first weekend of September (since 1976) the Avante! Festival (Portuguese: Festa do Avante!) is held named after the official newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party. After taking part in different locations around Lisbon, like the FIL Park, Ajuda or Loures, it is now carried out in Amora, a town near Seixal in a ground bought by the Party after a massive fundraising campaign in the early 90s. The campaign was considered by the Party as the only way to avoid the boycott organised by the owners of the previous festivals grounds, that culminated in 1987 with the festival not being carried out after 11 editions. The festival is usually visited and participated in by hundreds of thousands of people, making the outside of the ground seem a gigantic camping park. The party itself consists of a three-day festival of music, with the participation of hundreds of Portuguese and international bands and artists in five different stages, ethnography, gastronomy, debates, a book & music fair, theatre (Avanteatro), cinema (Cineavante) and sporting events. Several foreign communist parties also participate.
In 28 editions, the Festival counted with the presence of several famous artists, either Portuguese or foreign, like Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, Ivan Lins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Holly Near, Johnny Clegg, Charlie Haden, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, The Soviet Circus Company, the Kuban Cossacks Choir, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Band, Hevia, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, Carlos Paredes, Jorge Palma, Manoel de Oliveira and many others.
The preparation of the party begins right after the end of the previous party. Hundreds of the party's members and friends, mostly young people, volunteer for the hard work of building a small town in a few months.
Gallery
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Poster of 1986
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The 2009 festival.
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The 2009 stage.