EDP Fado Cafe, the seventh stage of the festival, is born in a renovated room area with its own set design, which will immerse all festival goers in a traditional Portuguese atmosphere.
Marco Rodrigues, Raquel Tavares, Hélder Moutinho, Dead Combo and Tiago Bettencourt are just a few of the names that will cross the EDP Street at the NOS Alive'16. The re-qualification of a street 150 meters long, highly inspired by the pombaline layout, will host various elements of Portuguese culture, including the re-creation of the Museum of Electricity and the future MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology). This area will include the new stage, two central EDP brand activation spaces, and also several shopping areas.
The project was designed by architect Rui Francisco and the production is in charge of EPC (Empresa Portuguesa de Cenários). Fado comes to NOS Alive through a careful programming that aims to give voice to this Portuguese musical genre, which is, since 2011, an Intangible Heritage of Humanity, while also revealing how this genre is very present in the culture of other Portuguese artists.
On July 7, the EDP Fado Cafe welcomes two of the most impressive Fado voices, Marco Rodrigues and Raquel Tavares. On the same day, Tiago Bettencourt will also perform, with a show specially prepared for this stage, in which the singer will revisit themes from the national songbook that most influenced him throughout his career. The second day of the festival will rely on the curatorship of Fado singer and poet Hélder Moutinho, currently recognized as one of the most prestigious Fado singers of his generation. The voice that needs no introduction brings with it well-known artists of fado for unique and special moments. Marco Oliveira, Vanessa Alves and Ricardo Parreira are the Fado singers who will join Hélder for an evening that promises to be very special. July 9, in turn, will offer very special programming, prepared by the person in charge of the renowned Fado house, 'Mesa de Frades'. For EDP Fado Cafe, Pedro de Castro created an atmosphere that is as close as possible to this special place, which has already given birth to some great voices and which has welcomed some of the most important Fado singers.
This historic site will be revisited at the NOS Alive festival, through the voices of renowned Fado singer Ana Sofia Varela and young Teresinha Landeiro. To finish off the EDP Fado Cafe in the best way, Dead Combo and Cordas da Má Fama take the stage. For this performance, Dead Combo are joined by a string trio (cello, viola and violin), thus producing an entirely new show that will completely deconstruct and strip the duo's songs into an acoustic format, where the string trio takes on a special and surprising role. This show will be a new opportunity for the duo's many admirers to immerse themselves in the unique imagination of the band, because, also from a scenic point of view, this will be another defining moment in the trajectory of the Dead Combo.
And because there are times that have to be revived, Nos Alive will bring back the slow-dance floor. Between midnight and 04:00 a.m., the EDP Fado Cafe will feature a voice, saxophone and piano, and it will always be time to dance. Paulo Campos Costa, the EDP Group's Global Director of Brand Marketing and Communication, points out that 'it has been seven years since EDP has been present at the NOS Alive festival. Naming the EDP Street and the seventh stage of this internationally recognized festival is the result of an ever stronger partnership between the two brands, which results from the Group's strategy, increasingly focusing on music. Today we are one of the brands that most supports the Portuguese music and our support to this seventh stage that will give priority to national music is the result of our strong commitment. '
Alvaro Covões stresses that 'we take very seriously the signature 'Best Poster. Always!' It is a milestone for NOS Alive to receive Fado, represented by some of the most prominent artists of the genre. The EDP Fado Cafe and this typically Portuguese street will showcase the best of our culture to all festival-goers who visit us'.
100 days away from opening the NOS Alive gates, the only daily tickets available are for July 7 and 9. Daily tickets for July 8, as well as three-day pass, are already sold out.