Month: August 2026

From 3 to 25 July, Centro Cultural de Belém hosted the 18th edition of Millennium Festival ao Largo, in partnership with OPART – Organismo de Produção Artística.

For three weeks, CCB Plaza was transformed into a major open-air stage for classical music, opera and dance performances, attracting more than 10,000 spectators.

Audiences had the opportunity to enjoy performances by OPART’s artistic companies: the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, with music and opera repertoires; Companhia Nacional de Bailado, with several performances dedicated to dance; and Victor Córdon Studios, providing a platform for new generations of performers and creators, and for contemporary choreographic creation.

The programme also included workshops for families, extending the initiative to audiences of different ages and generations.

With several sold-out evenings, this first edition of Millennium Festival ao Largo at CCB confirmed CCB Plaza as a meeting place for the arts, audiences and the city, reinforcing the role of Centro Cultural de Belém as a cultural venue open to the city.

On 15 and 16 September, CCB’s Main Auditorium hosts the 4th edition of BOOK 2.0, an initiative by the Portuguese Publishers and Booksellers Association (APEL), bringing together authors, experts, policymakers and industry professionals to reflect on the future of books, reading and literacy.

 

Under the theme “Back to Basics. Back to Books.”, a series of panels and conversations brings together different fields and perspectives, exploring topics including culture and education, democracy and freedom, artificial intelligence, the knowledge economy, health and well-being, copyright, creativity and the challenges of attention in the digital age.

 

Among the main guests are Margarida Balseiro Lopes, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, who will take part in the Allies in Culture session, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, who will address the challenges of a world changing faster than its own values. The President of Portugal, António José Seguro, is also expected to participate in a session dedicated to the building of a nation of readers.

 

The programme also features Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister of Finland, reflecting on reading, democracy and freedom; Carlos Moedas and economist Philippe Aghion in a conversation on the knowledge economy; Gonçalo Saraiva Matias, Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and for State Reform, and Óscar López, Spain’s Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, in a panel dedicated to digital transformation, artificial intelligence and the Iberian agenda.

 

The programme will also explore the attention crisis and the impact of distraction on younger generations, the relationship between music, creativity and literature, and the changes artificial intelligence is bringing to the discovery and promotion of books. The second day will also include a masterclass dedicated to marketing, creativity and engaging new audiences with reading.