There is something about biennials that, beyond the simple interval in the calendar, distinguishes them from annual events: the distance between editions creates expectation, allows time for reflection and prevents the crystallisation of habit. Above all, it forces the renewal of ideas, diversity of languages and risk-taking.
At the Novas Invasões ('New Invasions') Festival, this cadence is not only structural, but also part of its way of thinking about the relationship between art, the city and memory. Held in Torres Vedras, Novas Invasões draws on the historical context of the French Invasions of Portugal to launch a contemporary challenge: to rethink the very concept of ‘invasion’ as a creative force.
The past serves here as a starting point — not as a fixed backdrop — for a festival that combines artistic creation, experimentation and reflection on identity and public space.
With each edition, the festival affirms its strong commitment to contemporaneity and artistic creation, filling the city with performances, music, theatre, dance, installations and immersive proposals that reinvent squares, plazas and streets. The public space is transformed into a stage and laboratory, inviting the public to unexpected encounters and an active experience of the city.
In this context, popular initiatives, such as the Oitocentista Market, coexist with more experimental artistic proposals. They function as points of contact and mobilisation for the public, helping to create a festive and inclusive atmosphere, without diluting the artistic identity of the festival. This coexistence between languages — from the popular to the experimental — is one of the hallmarks of Novas Invasões and one of the factors that most contributes to its vitality.
In the 2025 edition, under the artistic direction of João Garcia Miguel, the festival reinforced this dimension of risk and openness. More than just presenting shows, it proposed a suspended time, an interval where the city allowed itself to be traversed by other narratives, other rhythms and other ways of experiencing life.
Biennial by nature, Novas Invasões asserts itself as a process in constant reinvention. A festival that does not repeat itself, that does not settle — and that reminds us that cities gain when they accept being, from time to time, creatively invaded.
As we have done since the first edition, we bring you some of the most captivating visual moments from these three days of creative dazzle.
Built using rammed earth, timber, and stone taken from the surrounding terrain, Forte da Carvalha has been partially restored and is now part of a walking trail. The surrounding area has been requalified with benches, information panels, and a scenic swing inviting visitors to pause and take in the view. There are also two landscape observatories — one facing west, the other east — connected by a pedestrian path.
Just a short walk away, you’ll find a shaded picnic area, perfect for a family break. Here, history isn’t just read on signs — it’s felt underfoot, carried in the breeze, and heard in the silence between hills. Visiting Forte da Carvalha means stepping into a chapter of the Lines of Torres Vedras — in a place where the past still keeps watch over the future, from on high.
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