A week long free festival in Sines

From Lisbon we followed the vans to the next party down the coast at Musicas Do Mundo.

As we drive through Portugal we’re always seeing posters and billboards for music festivals, many of which are free. It’s a wicked place to be for the summer!

When we were stopped in a car park full of vans in Lisbon we got chatting to a busker who was travelling in his camper, he told us we had to go to Musicas Do Mundo festival and he circled its location on our map. Not having any other plans we decided to go for it.

The festival was happening across Sines and Porto Covo from 22nd July to the 30th, with performances happening right the way from 5pm-4am on some days, definitely the longest festival we’ve been to!

It started off in Porto Covo where we parked up right on the coast in a car park full of campervans, next to a lovely couple from Germany who we’d met in Lisbon. Just like the other places we’ve stopped in Portugal, this was a perfect place to stay in the van as it felt really relaxed with all the festival goers sat outside their vans playing music and enjoying the sunshine 🙂

To see more of the places we’ve stayed on our journey click here.

Porto Covo is a beautiful place surrounded by gorgeous little beaches. One of the days we were there we went for a long walk along the coast and saw so many tiny sandy beaches with crystal clear water that were completely empty. We’ve got to go back one day for some snorkeling…

The festival stage was set up in the central square of Porto Covo and the first few days of the festival were totally free. There were stalls set up around the festival area selling all different kinds of handmade arty items. The music line-up included acts from all around the world, the only one we’d heard of was Billy Bragg and he was playing on one of the days where you had to buy a ticket for €20, which isn’t bad considering all the bands you got to see but we decided to stick to the free stuff!

In Porto Covo we saw Graveola from Brazil, Bamba Wassoulou Groove from Mali, The Unthanks from the UK and The Wesli Band from Canada. It was a brilliant mix of all different genres and the square was packed with people of all ages dancing late in to the night.

On Sunday the festival moved to Sines. The car park in Porto Covo slowly cleared out as many campers followed the festival and started making their way towards Sines, we followed the crowd which was a really nice feeling having the freedom to go where the festival goes.

Sines is a bit bigger than Porto Covo and the festival was spread out across several stages around the town. This part of the festival wasn’t totally free, some of the shows you had to pay for but still there was plenty to see without needing to buy a ticket. One of the festival venues in Sines was within the walls of Sines Castle, which was really cool being able to watch music from within a medieval castle overlooking the sea.

Again, in Sines we parked up on the coast in another car park of campervans and festival goers that was only a 2 minute walk from a beautiful beach, Praia Vasco da Gama, with fine sand and really calm water it was great for swimming and we made the most of it every day before the festival. One of the festival stages was set up right by the beach so you could sit by the sea and still enjoy the music.

There’s also a cycle path running along the coast of Sines which gave us another way to explore the beaches in the area. We’re finding Portugal to be really good for cycling and pretty much every path we’ve cycled also has an outdoor gym, often next to the water, making exercising here a way more enjoyable experience than what we’d been used to in the UK!

In Sines we watched Alibombo from Colombia, they were particularly interesting to watch as they’d built their instruments from all kinds of every day items, the guy even played the zip on his jacket! Retimbrar from Portugal, Bitori from Cape Verde and Los Piranas from Colombia.

We saw some familiar faces from Lisbon and people we’d met in Porto Covo at the festival which really made it feel like a small world…it’s strange where we’re travelling, the places we visit always feel unknown and full of strangers but then you see people you recognise and realise the world isn’t so big and scary after all.

While we were at the festival we found that the local Intermarche had a dedicated point for campervans to empty waste and fill up with water for free, it was only a few minutes drive from the festival site so really easy and convenient for us.

When the festival was over we continued along the coast for about 10km or so and found ourselves in a beautiful empty spot on the cliff overlooking the sea where we had a BBQ and planned our next stop.