NOS Alive 2021

NOS Alive, held each summer in the western of reaches of Portugal’s capital city Lisbon, is not just one of the biggest festivals of its kind in the country, but also among the best that Europe has to offer.

More than a decade on from the very first edition – back when it was known as Optimus Alive – the festival has become renowned for its top-tier lineups packed with talent from across the globe; drawing predominantly from rock, indie and alternative music, but with plenty of scope to explore pop, hip hop, electronic music and more.

In that time, headliners have featured everyone from Bob Dylan and Beastie Boys at early editions through to The Cure, Arctic Monkeys, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters in recent years. Such is the organisers’ commitment to curating the programme each year, the festival’s motto in recent times has been “the best lineup, always” – quite a bold claim, but one they look to deliver on when summer rolls around again.

And with Lisbon increasingly one of the most popular and vibrant tourist destinations in Europe, the mid-July, seaside celebration is the perfect combination of music festival and city break.