Twenty years ago, the first Portuguese edition of Rock in Rio surprised Lisbon residents. To avoid noise complaints, Roberta Medinathe founder, daughter of the legendary Roberto Medina, the founder of the festival in Brazil 40 years ago, went door to door offering … tickets to the residents of Bela Vista, where the concerts were held, so that they could attend the first day of the festival.
Today, Rock in Rio is all grown up, they call it the Disneyland of festivals, with musicians from all over the world sharing a sea of people. This year, with a new location, Parque Tejo, built by the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, for the reception of Pope Francis during World Youth Day 2023, has become an altar for rock and roll fans. roll.
That’s why, on the first day, the three great rock bands, Extreme, Scorpions and Evanescencethey painted Tejo Park black, with daring and gothic looks, despite the eclectic poster, with Ed Sheeran, Jonas Brothers, Doja Cat, Camila Cabello, Xutos & Pontapés and Ivete Sangalo like some of the big names from the two weekends of the festival.
In an environment for a transgenerational audience, from 8 to 80 years old, in the epicenter of the venue a large Ferris wheel offers a panoramic view of Lisbon. When the doors of the venue opened, the endless lines of cars heading to the Parque das Nações area already indicated the success of this edition.
In an interview with a Portuguese radio station, Roberta Medina, organizer of the festival, praised the fact that the new venue would allow us to “offer more stages, a much broader, much more powerful cultural offer to our fans”, also highlighting that the event is now “a postcard of Lisbon, with the beautiful bridge behind”, in reference to the view over the Tagus and the Vasco da Gama bridge.
The event director states that the new space also represents “an advance in terms of comfort for the public.” «It has 40% more toilets, more food and drink areas, more space. We are using 30,000 square meters more for the internal public circulation area », he explains.
Roberta Medina hopes that these “days will be very happy.” This year’s edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa takes place on June 15, 16, 22 and 23. “The team is very proud of this move,” she emphasizes.
