Faro: F Festival with Ana Moura, Diogo Piçarra and Bárbara Bandeira in September

In total, there are more than 80 artists, bands and projects that will perform at the festival, which this year takes place over four days, between September 4th and 7th, instead of the usual three, which is the “big news of this edition”, according to the director of the promoter Sons em Trânsito, Vasco Sacramento, in statements to Lusa.

«The extra day [which falls on a Sunday and is a municipal holiday in Faro, allows us to] further increase the range of proposals that we can cover at the festival, offer an even more diverse programme and provide a broader overview of Portuguese music than ever before», said the promoter, on the sidelines of the presentation of the festival's line-up, in Lisbon.

As this is the 10th edition, the organization decided, on the one hand, to “take stock of what has been done in the past”, including in the lineup “artists who had very notable appearances at F”, such as Diogo Piçarra, Pedro Abrunhosa and the Revenge of the 90s party, “which had a big impact on two editions”.

Furthermore, there are artists who are making their debut at F, which for Vasco Sacramento is “yet another demonstration of the vitality that Portuguese music has achieved”, such as Os Quatro e Meia and Luís Represas, for example.

«And we have artists who in previous years played on smaller stages and this year are celebrating their performances on the Sagres stage, which is our biggest stage. Such as Mizzy Miles, Sara Correia and Bispo. This makes us very happy, because in some way it is a mission of the festival that is fulfilled», he said.

On the last day, September 7th, the program will start earlier «and will be especially dedicated to children and young people», something unprecedented at the festival.

«OF is a very family-friendly festival and we believe it will be a winning bet, with shows by Nina Toc Toc, Chinfrim, a project by Rita Redshoes, Caju and Bambu and storytelling sessions», he said.

The vice-president of Faro City Council , which co-organises the festival, also highlights the extra day, “which will have a more affordable ticket price and a programme aimed at everyone, particularly families”.

Paulo Santos also highlights another new feature in this edition: the availability of a mobile phone app , «with a gamification component and which will allow for a personalized festival experience».

The first edition of the F Festival took place in 2014 over two days. Since then, the number of days, audience and space it occupies in the city has increased.

“We started by occupying about a third of Vila Adentro, the historic centre of Faro. Over the years we grew and not only did we occupy the entire Vila Adentro, but we also left. The main stage is outside the walls, because it was the only way we could meet the growing demand we had over the years,” recalled Vasco Sacramento.

Initially the venue had capacity for around 5,000 people per day, today it can receive around 24,000 people.

“We have been fortunate to be living in a time when there is a lot of national production, very diverse, of quality, with an ever-growing audience. We have more and more shows by Portuguese artists throughout the year, with full venues, even the largest in the country, which is the MEO Arena. Portuguese music is going through a good moment and F is a consequence of that”, said Vasco Sacramento.

The festival's audience continues to be made up mainly of people from the Algarve and Alentejo, "but there are also increasing numbers year after year of people from the rest of the country", with a clear predominance from the regions of Lisbon, Setúbal and Vale do Tejo, and "some audience from Andalusia", a Spanish region that borders the Algarve.

“Monitoring is done through the ticket sales point. But it is sometimes difficult to fully understand where the audience comes from, because although the festival is already taking place in the first week of September, it is still a holiday period. And there are tickets purchased in the Algarve by people who are on holiday,” he said.

The public that goes to F this year will be able to watch concerts by artists and bands such as Bárbara Bandeira, Ana Moura, Dino DSantiago with the Orquestra do Algarve, Julinho KSD, Nenny, Buba Espinho, Mundo Segundo & Sam The Kid, Ana Bacalhau, Bateu Matou, Margarida Campelo, Amaura, Pedro da Linha, Cassete Pirata, Tara Perdida, Lena DÁgua, Maria Reis, Scúru Fitchádu and Napa, among many others, in addition to those previously named.

Tickets for the festival are now on sale.

A pre-sale period will run until July 31st, limited to 1,000 daily tickets and 1,000 four-day passes. Daily tickets cost 20 euros for September 4th, 5th and 6th, and eight euros for September 7th. Passes cost 50 euros.

After July 31st, daily tickets will cost 22 euros for September 4th, 5th and 6th, and ten euros for September 7th. The general pass costs 60 euros from that day onwards.

Children up to and including 12 years old do not pay for a ticket.