50th Communist Avante Festival held in Portugal
All images via the PCP
The 50th Avante! Festival, or Festa do Avante!, took place from September 4 to 6, 2026, in Seixal, Portugal, celebrating five decades of culture, politics, and music organized by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP).
The Avante! Festival is an annual cultural and political festival established in 1976 by the Portuguese Communist Party and named after the party’s newspaper, Avante!. The 50th edition was held over the first weekend of September 2026, in Amora, near Seixal, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees, including communists, workers, youth, and international party members.
The festival began shortly after Portugal’s Carnation Revolution (1974) following the fall of the fascist Estado Novo regime. It served as a space for cultural dynamization and political activism that was previously clandestine.
Over the past five decades, the festival has become not just a political event but also a major cultural gathering, blending music, theatre, cinema, debates, gastronomy, and fairs with political discourse.
Early editions took place at various locations in Lisbon, including Ajuda and Loures, before moving to a dedicated festival ground in Amora, purchased by PCP members through fundraising to secure a permanent venue.
The festival spans three days, featuring five music stages with hundreds of Portuguese and international bands and artists. Past performances have included renowned names such as Chico Buarque, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Band, and Adriano Correia de Oliveira.
Diverse cultural programming includes Avanteatro theatre, cinema screenings (Cineavante), sporting events, a book and music fair, and ethnography exhibits highlighting Portuguese and global culture.
Preparation for the festival is a massive volunteer effort, with party supporters building a temporary “small town” infrastructure on the festival grounds before the event.
Several foreign communist and worker parties attended the festival, reflecting its role as a hub of international and leftist political solidarity. This year's festival placed a special emphasis on solidarity with Cuba which is under an intensified US economic and oil siege.
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez addresses the festival.
Paulo Raimundo, General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party, giving a keynote speech at the festival.
For more photos see: Comício da 50.º Festa do Avante! | Partido Comunista Português
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