The fourth edition of the Todos Festival is once again under the sign of interculturality in Lisbon, but this time with a new territorial enlargement. After having dedicated three editions exclusively to the neighbourhood that joins Mouraria to Martim Moniz and Intendente, this time around, the program is extended to another part of Lisbon: S. Bento and Poço dos Negros.
The history of the arrival of African communities in that neighbourhood is very old. Today, this neighbourhood is characterized by a cosmopolitan population that coexists in the tight, steep streets. Indians and Pakistanis, Brazilians and Africans, students of all nationalities coming through the Erasmus program, bring to this neighbourhood that also maintains its Portuguese traditions, in the architecture, in the antiques, in the cafes, barbers, and its residents, an atmosphere that crosses winds from the East with those of the West, in a place that makes you want to get to know it better.
The program extends for the first time over two weekends. The public is invited to come and go, to follow a route of shows of great public and intimacy, of gastronomic experiences that this time reaches Timor, Shanghai, Cape Verde, the Alentejo, European cuisine, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea, Nepal and Goa. An oriental dance, to dance with Asian residents who live in Mouraria. There will be small-format plays of Theater, Dance, and lots of music in stores and restaurants for children accompanied by adults. An orchestra of small musicians will ignite the emotions of a dancer in the street…
The shows in this edition were specially chosen with the history of this TODOS in mind. Does a festival have a personality that is born and matures? Does a festival have a body with arms that extend beyond you? Will the TODOS be more and more of the TODOS (ALL)?
In the Mouraria the opening night will echo with the sound of the Todos Orchestra, which, together with elements of the Orquestra di Piazza Vittorio, will give the biggest concert of all. The MANDINGUE Circus arriving from Guinea Conakry brings us the incredible power of Black Africa that shows in the contortionist and acrobatic dances of this impressive troupe of dancers. There will be a set of proposals so that people from the neighbourhood, people from all over Lisbon, and audiences, can “put their hands in the dough” of the festival. ARRAIAL will be one example: a live music and dance show by the Circolando Company brings to Mouraria the universe of the festivals from the north of Portugal. Besides the participation of eight dancers and the band Dead Combo, it will feature fifty residents from both neighbourhoods, people and children from all corners of the world. The French company Kumulus will open the second weekend of Todos in a parking lot, at Rua D. Luís I, in Santos, with a show that talks about the collapse of human value, the cities of trash, and the invisible life of a seemingly crumbling polis. A poignant and disarmingly topical show. The TODOS is there, to experience the city from the inside. It is inside this festival, now with arms, that the breathing of the world living in Lisbon feels better. Don’t hesitate, come and bring everyone with you.
