As August draws to a close, summer festivals are wrapping up. I recently came back from Portugal, where I attended Ageas Cooljazz Festival in Cascais, and it offered a very unique music-listening experience compared to other major festivals in European cities. The annual open-air event runs almost the whole of July, and as the name suggests, it’s one for jazz lovers.
But I went there for Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand who frankly said: “I thought we’d be playing to a polite jazz audience sitting down at the front of the stage.” The Glaswegian band motivated the crowd to get up and run to the front of the stage with their hit song The Dark of the Matinée.
“I love this surge of energy,” vocalist Alex Kapranos said, and all of a sudden, the outdoor space was filled with rock fans and British tourists. Connecting to the Hipódromo Manuel Possolo is the Parque Marechal Carmona, a family-friendly green space where peacocks, roosters and turtles roam freely around.
Right next to the food and drink stalls, there is a small amphitheatre stage to keep punters entertained. Compared to Sónar Barcelona or BST Hyde Park, Cooljazz Festival is definitely more laid-back. VIPs and corporate guests have a covered seating box on the side overlooking the stage and the audience while they get to enjoy drinks and small plates.
The setup would have been perfect for a relaxing jazz night, but Franz Ferdinand fans were desperate for a high-energy dance when Love Illumination was on. But it was Take Me Out that got everybody moving, I saw some 80-year-olds pumping their fists up in the air. Some youngsters tried to rush to the pit for a proper headbanging, pogoing rave.
Bob Hardy, the band’s bassist, told Time Out: “What we love most is when the audience stops being mere spectators and becomes active participants in the party. We’re going to bring songs from our whole career, the big singles, and it’s going to be a beautiful celebration. Even if people are seated, that doesn’t intimidate us. We like the challenge of getting people out of their seat.”
Throughout the entire Cooljazz Festival, there were also special performers injecting other music genres, including rock singer David Bryne, afro-urban DJ Mei Glez, and jazz funk band Jamiroquai.
Meanwhile tourists or locals can explore museums around the area, the Paula Rego museum houses some of the most important works from the British-Portuguese artist who was famous for her powerful figurative paintings.
Further down the marina is the Santa Maria lighthouse, a beautiful blue-and-white striped tower built in 1868 that is still in use to guide fishermen and sailors.
The Ageas Cooljazz Festival is due to return next year in July, and if you’re up for some laid-back music-listening, it’s worth getting tickets for.
