The adjective august is defined by most dictionaries as “marked by majestic dignity or grandeur,” “inspiring reverence or admiration,” and “having great importance.” So when it comes to Lisbon, August, even in the before time, has never been very august event-wise. If you, however,due to travel restrictions and/or money or other troubles are not able to get the f.ck out of dodge for a month like most of the city usually does, or, on the contrary, if Lisbon actually happens to be where you got the f.ck out of dodge to this August — fear not. There are still a few decent doses of culture around town to distract you from the pandemic and your friends’ august picturesque social media posts this weekend and onwards, like:
July 30
AERIAL ACROBATICS DEMONSTRATION:
While most of Lisbon has been mostly looking at screens this year, some of Lisbon has been learning to fly, literally. This Friday eve, circus school Chapitô invites you to look at exactly what their Aerial Acrobatics students have learned, and maybe be inspired to fly too, free of charge.
SOLO POETRY DEMONSTRATION:
After a number of international performances in the last few years (including in Georgia, Finland, Estonia, Italy, Israel, Bulgaria, etc.), Brazilian-bred and Lisbon-based artist, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet Nilson Muniz comes to Intendente to share his latest show, Palavra, Corpo e Som with you this Friday night too.
July 30 – August 1
JAZZ FESTIVAL:
The 37th edition of the Jazz em Agosto festival is in full swing in Lisbon, offering not one but two august nightly performances by local and international musicians Friday through Sunday, this weekend, and next.
PERFORMANCE ART:
This, however, is the last weekend to check out Pedro Sousa Loureiro’s Online distortion / Border line(s) — the multimedia, improvisational show that, after a successful art residency in Armenia in 2019, hit Lisbon earlier this month and deals with issues like “femininity, eccentricity, the unusual, hierarchical relationships, ego struggles, and physical and psychological limits.”
July 31
GYPSY JAZZ CONCERT:
Newly formed local accordion, guitar, and violin trio Bons Ventos blow into Camones CineBar in Graça this Saturday, and you’re invited to what the organizers aptly describe as “a unique night of good taste.”
OPEN-AIR FILM:
Or, for some free cinema under the night sky, you can head to Alameda to check out O Sonho Certo (aka “The Right Juice”) — a light-hearted story of a failed city banker pursuing fulfillment on an old farm in the Algarve.
August 1
PORTUGUESE POETRY WORKSHOP:
If you think you é capaz de falar português suficiente para escrever e executar alguma poesia própria, then check out Con Calma’s ‘Poetry and Declamation Workshop: From Writing to Speaking’ this Sunday morning. Who knows, maybe one day you can share your Portuguese poems with Israel and Estonia too.
AMBIGUOUS PARTY:
If you, however, just want to party like it’s 1999 and the last two years never happened, then head down to Roterdão Club’s Mother Festa! this Sunday night. They will be “dancing and toasting to birthdays, to lives that have begun, to lives that have ended, to holidays, to New Year’s Eve, to Bowie’s birth,” and more, and the DJ will be taking requests.
August 4-29
SOLO ART EXHIBIT:
And last but not least. “A travel journal. Brief instants, corners, moments frozen in time. A pause. The need to stop, to breathe, to start again… the constant metamorphosis.” That’s how local multimedia artist Ana Camilo describes her solo show Next Stop going up in Alcântara this coming Wednesday. It’s up all month and free to visit, so stop by.
To see what else is theoretically on for August and onwards, check out the rest of our still somewhat august calendar of events. And be safe, y’all.
