Festival de Poesia e Música - Vila Nova de Foz Côa

Poetry and Music Festival
Vila Nova de Foz Côa
22–25 April 2026

The country’s oldest literary festival returns to the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa from 22 to 25 April. There will be over 30 events, ranging from talks and debates with students, readings, a tribute to the poet Helga Moreira, music, theatre, book presentations and a Literary Train.

Balleteatro, a partner of the festival, is taking part in this edition with the following activities:

22 April
4.40 pm
Literary Train of the Foz Côa Poetry and Music Festival
Departing from S. Bento Station in Porto, heading towards Pocinho, the Literary Train traverses the entire Douro landscape, classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, until it reaches Vila Nova de Foz Côa, thus kicking off the Festival under the banner of the ‘inhabited word’, the motto of this edition. This is one of the most beautiful journeys in the country, now featuring poetry readings by students from Balleteatro do Porto and accompanied by the guitar of musician Rui David, in a performance that aims to evoke some of the most prominent names in Portuguese poetry.

23 April
2.15 pm
Theatre workshop by students from Balleteatro do Porto
Venue: Yoga Room and School Library, Vila Nova de Foz Côa

23 April
6.30 pm
‘PESSOAS’ by Ricardo Barceló
Venue: Main Auditorium, Vila Nova de Foz Côa Cultural Centre
Pessoas is Pessoa, and it is a play exquisitely woven from the fabric of our dreams—that is, from the words of numerous texts by Pessoa—a play that invites us to revisit and re-dream Pessoa. (from the Preface by Jerónimo Pizarro)
Director: Rui Spranger
Cast: Third-year students from the theatre course at the Balleteatro Professional School

24 April
10.30 am
Poetry in the street
by students from the schools of Foz Côa and the Balleteatro of Porto
Venues: Praça do Tablado – Rua de S. Miguel – Municipal Mar