A concert, a comedy show, the inauguration of an urban art exhibition and the launch of a public petition will mark the start of the countdown to the opening of the European Capital of Culture in the Portuguese city of Évora on Friday, February 6.
Under the slogan “O vagar é a cena” (“Lazing around is the scene”), the initiatives, all with free admission, are organised by the Évora 2027 Association, which manages the city’s European Capital of Culture programme, and aim to launch the “365-day countdown” to the official opening of Évora_27.
“From morning to night, we are celebrating this symbolic date with a full day of free programming dedicated to leisure, including the launch of a public petition to establish a National Day of Leisure,” the Évora 2027 Association said in a statement.
According to the organisation, the highlight of Friday’s programme will be a “unique concert, created especially for the occasion”, featuring original music and lyrics and bringing together musicians from different genres. The concert will take place at 9pm at the Arena d’Évora.
The line-up includes Buba Espinho with João Direitinho (from the band Átoa) and the Ourique Children’s Choir, Duarte with Cantares de Évora, Cláudia Pascoal with the Chocalheiros de Vila Verde de Ficalho and Cantares de Évora, and Valas with Tozé Bexiga.
Also performing are Mafalda Veiga with the Vidigueira Choir, Helena Caldeira with Surma, Vozes de Abril performing songs by Luísa Sobral, and Laz Hay with the Filarmónica Liberalitas Julia.
Earlier in the day, at 11am, a ceremony will be held at Évora town hall to collect the first signatures for a public petition calling for the creation of a National Day of Leisure, a concept closely associated with Alentejo culture and central to Évora’s European Capital of Culture project.
The Évora 2027 Association said it intends to submit the petition to parliament, proposing that the National Day of Leisure be celebrated annually on February 6.
According to the organisers, the initiative aims to recognise vagar (wandering) as “an antidote to the continuous acceleration of contemporary life”.
The programme also includes the inauguration of an urban art exhibition in Praça do Giraldo at 5pm, considered Évora’s “living room”, and a comedy show by Guilherme Geirinhas at the Garcia de Resende Theatre at 6.30pm.
On Saturday, at 11am, the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation auditorium in Évora will host a conference entitled “Beyond the title: what it means to be European Capital of Culture”, featuring Else Christensen-Redžepović, an expert from the European Commission.
This will be followed, at 11.30am, by a round-table discussion with representatives of previous Portuguese European Capitals of Culture: José Luís Arnaut (Lisbon 1994), Teresa Lago (Porto 2001) and Carlos Martins (Guimarães 2012).
The official opening of Évora_27 is scheduled for February 6, 2027.
Source: LUSA
