The PORT to PORT festival was conceived as a cross-border event to strengthen ties between Ireland and Portugal.
It was started by a collective of Cork people living in Lisbon called the Garden Collective to present music, art and poetry from both countries.
Obviously, with COVID-19 shutdowns worldwide, the two-day festival could no longer go ahead but it is now due to happen online this Saturday March 21st.
The event will start on Saturday afternoon and go into the night.
The online festival, aptly named PORT to PORT Connected, will consist of two main parts. First, a livestream that will feature a mix of artists streaming from their homes. And second, a “virtual festival” which walks people through how the festival could have been — this allows the team to showcase the up-and-coming artists who would have played and support what they are doing, an aspect of the festival that is very important to all the Garden Collective members.
The Port to Port Connected Live Stream will take place Saturday 21st March from early afternoon until late. A bit vague at the moment? Yes, because this is all happening on the fly. So far, the crew have several Irish and Portuguese musicians digging out cables, blowing dust off of keyboards and plugging in mics in order to get ready to join the craic.
Anybody interested can head over to https://agardencollective.org/port-to-port/ or follow Garden Collective on social media @agardencollective, where they will be broadcasting across multiple platforms. Make sure not to miss it by signing up in advance via their website.
The Original Line-up (expect appearances on Saturday from below)
- Time for T (solo) (Street Mission Records) – PT
- Mariana Badan – BR
- Citrus Fresh (PX Music) – IRL
- Hazey Haze (PX Music) – IRL
- Atelier Francesco – IT
- Will Grant – UK
- Mark Waldron-Hyden (Sunshine Cult Records) – IRL
- MagMell – PT
- Elaine Malone – IRL
- Foggy – IT
- Actualacid (Hausu) – IRL
- SmokedFalmon – PT
- KONE (Con O Brien) – IRL
- Sean Being – IRL
- Soft Focus (Sunshine Cult Records) – IRL
- Senhor Santos (County Vinyl) – IRL
- Palavra Lisboa – UK / PT
- The Crossover, a collaborative multi-disciplinary performance, in association with Garden Collective and supported by Cork City Council Arts Office, featuring Irish artists: Shaunna Lee Lynch, Spekulativ Fiktion, Molly McAliste, Shane McIntyre, Roisin McCabe, Katie O’Grady, Joe Madigan, The Choke Collective, Alexander Edgar, Emmet Brickley, Ciaráin Mac Artain; and Portuguese artists: Mr. Bubble, Shaka’s lo-fi Experience and Jay Graca.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
