Events in Lisbon
This October, Lisbon pairs live music with a strong gallery season. Fado in Chiado plays the Cine-Teatro Gymnásio on 15 October, Candlelight, the best of ABBA, lights up the Altis Grand Hotel on 24 October and The Jazz Room brings a Sinatra and Armstrong tribute to Time Out Market on 13 November. Desatino Stand-Up Comedy and The Jury Experience keep the evenings busy, while the Gulbenkian opens Painting Is Easy. Do It Yourself! on 10 October and VENUS fills MAAT. The city's official calendar adds Júlio Pomar at the Panteão Nacional, theatre and neighbourhood programming.
Lisbon events this October from the official listing
The events below are drawn from Lisbon's official events calendar for the month, and each card links straight to the calendar's own listing with the dates and the venue. For the sights that stay open all year, start with visiting Lisbon's tourist attractions.
Outubro na Quinta Alegre
When: 1 to 31 October
Where: Quinta Alegre
A month of neighbourhood cultural activity with free entry and advance booking, part of the city's Um Teatro em Cada Bairro programme.
Imitação dos Pássaros
When: until 25 October
Where: Teatro Variedades
A play from Tiago Torres da Silva about a young dreamer whose love of theatre and of Chekhov's Nina stirs up his family's secrets.
Fifty Shades of Rage
When: 21 October
Where: Teatro Maria Matos
Stand-up comedy from Tova Leigh, back in Portugal to talk about sex, hormones, feminism and motherhood from a female point of view.
Contos em Viagem, Goa
When: until 1 November
Where: Teatro Meridional
A new Teatro Meridional creation built from tales, poetry and novel excerpts written across the history of Goa, Daman and Diu.
Edson Chagas
When: until 29 November
Where: Pavilhão Branco
Intimate Distance, Uncaptured City brings together photography series made in London, Luanda, Namibe, Lisbon and Brescia.
Júlio Pomar, Equus
When: until 27 December
Where: Panteão Nacional
An exhibition marking the centenary of Júlio Pomar's birth, with works from the Caixa Geral de Depósitos collection devoted to the horse.
Live music and festivals in Lisbon
Fado in Chiado
Fado in Chiado plays the Cine-Teatro Gymnásio on 15 October at 17:30.
Candlelight, the best of ABBA
Candlelight, the best of ABBA, at the Altis Grand Hotel on 24 October at 21:30.
Candlelight, the best of Metallica
Candlelight, the best of Metallica, at the EPIC SANA Marquês Hotel on 7 November at 21:30.
The Jazz Room, a Sinatra and Armstrong tribute
The Jazz Room tribute to Sinatra and Armstrong at Time Out Market on 13 November at 18:30.
Events and shows in Lisbon
The Jury Experience, Travessia mortal
The Jury Experience, Travessia mortal, at the Auditório da Associação Nacional das Farmácias on 17 October at 17:00.
Desatino Stand-Up Comedy
Desatino Stand-Up Comedy at The Fyve on 23 October at 21:30.
O que eles falam delas, a comedy night
O que eles falam delas comedy at the Auditório do Museu da Farmácia on 6 November at 22:00.
Art exhibitions and museum shows in Lisbon
Gulbenkian, 70 years, Post it!
Until: 19 October
Where: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
A display of posters tracing the range and diversity of the Foundation's programme across its seventy-year history.
The Exhibition of a Dream
Dates: 19 September to 22 February 2027
Where: Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian
Curated by Mathieu Copeland, sixteen dreams are read as songs and unfold through the shifting, temporary forms of mandalas.
Painting Is Easy. Do It Yourself!
Dates: 10 October to 8 February 2027
Where: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Main Gallery
Works from the la Caixa Contemporary Art Collection, conceived by João Maria Gusmão, on the alienation of labour, the leisure economy and self-entrepreneurship.
Pedro Cabrita Reis, without sorrow of heart
Dates: 16 September to 15 February 2027
Where: MAAT, Oval Gallery
Nearly two hundred previously unseen paintings, drawings and sculptures made for the show by one of Portugal's best-known artists.
VENUS, Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos
Dates: 2 October to 22 February 2027
Where: MAAT
Joana Vasconcelos' monumental textile works in dialogue with more than 40 haute couture and ready-to-wear creations by Valentino Garavani.
Lisbon tickets and tours
National and local holidays in Lisbon
Public holidays change the rhythm of a visit more than most travellers expect. Museums and monuments can switch to holiday timetables, many shops and banks close for the day and public transport often runs to a lighter schedule, so a day built around one museum can fall apart. Portugal fixes 13 statutory holidays in article 234 of the Labour Code, three of them moveable feasts that shift with Easter, and Lisbon adds one day of its own.
National holidays in Portugal 2026
- 1 January New Year's Day (Ano Novo)
- 3 April Good Friday (Sexta-Feira Santa)
- 5 April Easter Sunday (Domingo de Páscoa)
- 25 April Freedom Day (Dia da Liberdade)
- 1 May Labour Day (Dia do Trabalhador)
- 4 June Corpus Christi (Corpo de Deus)
- 10 June Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas)
- 15 August Assumption Day (Assunção de Nossa Senhora)
- 5 October Republic Day (Implantação da República)
- 1 November All Saints' Day (Dia de Todos-os-Santos)
- 1 December Restoration of Independence (Restauração da Independência)
- 8 December Immaculate Conception (Imaculada Conceição)
- 25 December Christmas Day (Natal)
Local holidays in Lisbon 2026
- 13 June Saint Anthony's Day (Dia de Santo António), local
The Câmara Municipal de Lisboa calls 13 June the feriado municipal and publishes a mobility plan for it: the river ferries run a Saturday timetable on every route that day, and on the night of 12 June, for the Santo António street parties, the metro and the suburban trains run later than usual. The two other days that sit outside the national list, Azores Day on 1 June and Madeira Day on 1 July, belong to the autonomous regions and not to the mainland. Turismo de Lisboa publishes the opening hours of every Ask Me Lisboa point on its own page, which is where a holiday timetable would appear.
Before you go to Lisbon
Tourist attractions in Lisbon
The Lisbon guide on Tourist Office pulls together a first day walking route, the viewpoints and neighbourhoods worth your time and the sights to book ahead.
Lisbon tourist information
Where Lisbon's official tourist information points are, the hours they keep and which public holidays change them.
Beyond Lisbon
The Portugal guide looks past the capital to Porto, the Algarve, Sintra and beyond, with the sights worth building a longer trip around.