About festival SUL

Programmed by the Hotel Europa theatre company, this is the first documentary theatre festival in Portugal. In an approach that favours artists who create from real situations, with a focus on documentary theatre or who use documentary techniques and methodologies, SUL – International Festival of Performing Arts focuses on political issues, social struggles and collective memory.

The festival, which stretches between Costa da Caparica and Trafaria, seeks to create a space for dialogue between diverse voices and perspectives on topics such as collective memory, democracy, the recent past, colonialism, resistance to fascism and totalitarianism, and the war in Palestine. The programme includes shows, concerts, workshops and visits, addressing the complex social issues that have shaped history and contemporary society.

When the company Hotel Europa moved to Costa da Caparica, it wanted to create an international performing arts festival to respond to a huge gap in programming in this part of the municipality of Almada. The festival reflects on the place of the ‘Sul’ (south), i.e. being from the south of Europe, which places its inhabitants in a place of periphery, but also of resistance and affirmation of different identities. This area is characterised by mass tourism in contrast to the self-build neighbourhoods of Terras da Costa, 2nd Torrão and Cova do Vapor. It is in this context that SUL intervenes, creating links with local associations, giving access to a diverse theatre offer in an area that culturally has very few options.

With this festival, we want to give visibility to new voices and established creators, and provide a space for reflection, learning and debate on issues that continue to shape the world we live in.