Unique Festival Experience – Milhões de Festa
In a small town in Northern Portugal, Barcelos, you will find the Milhoes de Festa 4-day music festival.
This music festival is known to be totally alternative, with many names you’ll likely have never heard before, yet it’s also known as an outstanding festival that never fails to deliver incredible music and atmosphere.
In this small town of Barcelos during the 4-day festival you’ll find locals who have been attending the festival for years and foreigners who have made the trip just for the event.
One of the most amazing parts of the festival, aside from the music of course, is the swimming pool stage! Milhoes de Festa works in conjunction with the local council to turn the public outdoor swimming pool complex into a brilliant chill party, every day of the festival. After partying hard the night (/morning) before we couldn’t find a better way to nurse our hangovers than chilling in the pool. The music here is mostly electronic chill, which is the perfect accompaniment to floating on an inflatable lilo all day!
This year was our first time to the festival and it exceeded all our expectations. The first night started out a little bizarre with ‘Eat the Turnbuckle’, an American band, as one of the first acts we saw. With death metal music, wrestling moves and a performance that quickly descended into physical violence and blood pouring from their faces we really didn’t know what to expect from the rest of the festival!
Some of our personal highlights from the event had to be GOAT, with their exquisite costumes, gently luring us into a delightful trance, and of course Dan Deacon with yet more incredible electronic music – which happens to be a personal favourite of mine! But that’s not to exclude the diverse range of music tastes there. Bixiga 70 were another set we hugely enjoyed with their musical fusion to celebrate Afro-Brazilian culture. From Electronic, Metal and Pop to African, Latin American and Asian influences, we heard it all at Milhoes de Festa!
The location of the event itself is beautiful. With two main stages right next to the river, and a breath-taking view of Barcelos, lit up at night across the way, the atmosphere is both chilled and energetic. On the banks of the river you’ll find plenty of open grass areas and stone steps to sit around if you fancy a break from the crowds around the main stages. Yet front and centre you’ll find a great buzz of energy, dancing, crowdsurfing and more. There really is a great balance here.
The camping area is just a short walk from the main stages and happens to be in the city park, which again is closed off just for festival attendees over the 4 days. Though if you want to get a good spot for your tent we’d suggest arriving a little earlier as it gets pretty full!
It was our first time at Milhões but we will be back in 2017 for 4 more days of awesomeness!
:: Milhões de Festa ::
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