Festival of the Book in Belém with homage to Lobo Antunes and GNR concert

A 9th edition of the Festival of the Book, an initiative by the former President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to which the current head of state wanted to continue, opens with a concert to honor Lobo Antunes, with Kátia Guerreiro and Vitorino Salome playing songs by the writer who died in March this year.

The programming of the Festival of the Book in Belém includes presentations of books and conversations, as well as initiatives of the participating publishers and bookstores, including almost 400 authors in an autograph session, and will have a children's space dynamicated by the Libraries of Lisbon.

To close the feast, on September 20, and also as a way to mark the end of the summer, the GNR play, with the spectacle “Last Summer Dances”, day when the Orchestra Without Borders, under the direction of Martim Sousa Tavares, pays homage to Álvaro Cassuto, “signing the contribution of the conductor and composer to the renewal of music in Portugal and to the dissemination of Portuguese composers”.

On the nights of 18 and 19 there are concerts of Atoa and NAPA on the main stage and, on the stage of the waterfall, will take place on the 19th the recital “Saturday Poems, Autumn Eve”, with readings of Raquel Marinho and piano by Nicholas McNair.

During the party, there will also be the Kayzer Ballet show and, on the stage of the Teixeiras, concerts by Júlia Ochôa, Duarte Padua, Tiago Anjinho & Isolda Lidegran, Maria Inês, Maria Branco, Daniel Dionysio, Diogo Carlos, Gabriela Gomes and Rafael Eusébio, Francisca Fernandes or Xico Gaiato.

The program includes presentations of books and conversations, with the poet and historical socialist Manuel Alegre present in the presentation, by José Manuel Mendes, of "Cantos de Tristeza (Tristia)" by Ovid, with translation by Carlos Ascenso André, on 18 September, Friday.

On the same day, the book “Sidónio Pais, O Presidente-Rei”, by António Araújo is presented, and on 19 September, Saturday, there will be the table “Landscape, Territory, Portugal”, a conversation around the book “Portugal Refractário”, by António Araújo and Duarte Belo, with António Araújo and Aurora Carapinha, and moderation by Francisco José Viegas.

On the 20th, Sunday, the table will be held “No one chooses to be born rich or poor”, regarding the book “People like Us”, Miguel Herdade, in which Susana Peralta, Vasco Pereira Coutinho and Miguel Herdade participates, moderating Henrique Pinto de Mesquita.

This year's edition continues the collaboration with the Associação Portuguesa de Editores e Livreiros (APEL) and has the BLX – Libraries of Lisbon as a programming partner, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) as an accessibility and inclusion partner, the Sociedade Ponto Verde as an environmental partner and Radio Belém as a local partner.

The Presidency of the Republic informs that the gardens of the Palace of Belém have accessible routes and a platform in the area of the Main Stage reserved for visitors with conditioned mobility, with monitoring by teams on site from the entrance, which should always be done by the Museum Store of the Presidency of the Republic.

The programming activities that are the responsibility of the Presidency of the Republic, such as discussion tables and book presentations, have interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language.

The former head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, launched the Feast of the Book in his first year in office, in collaboration with APEL.

During its two mandates, there were eight editions of the Book Festival at the Palace of Bethlehem, from summer 2016 to summer 2025 – with an interregno in 2020 and 2021 due to the covid-19 – which, according to the Presidency of the Republic, had a total of 170 thousand visitors.