Dear friends!

After two years of interruption, for the pandemic reason known to all, the International Song Festival Serra da Estrela returns to its chair of dream: the stage of the Cineteatro of the Municipal House of Culture of Seia!

In contrast to the reasons that forced us to interrupt a journey that started in 2015, this return shows us that the Festival was not forgotten and was kept alive in the expectation of eventual participants who, in Portugal and abroad, joined the reappearance of the Festival.

And the (re)adherence was not stronger, because (a misfortune never comes alone...) to the fatality of a virus that killed many thousands of people around the world, followed a senseless war that, in addition to directly destroying the lives of thousands (millions) of people, is having economic repercussions on an equally universal level.

This is to say that the brutal increase in the price of air tickets inhibited (justifiably) many potential competitors (with their relatives and friends) of traveling to our country.

For all these reasons, we consider this sixth edition as a transitional one: we did not start from the ground zero (after all, the Festival had created roots), but we followed the same paths that led us to the strength that we have already demonstrated in previous editions.

Our gratitude to the Municipality of Seia, the Union of Parishes of Seia, São Romão and Lapa dos Dinheiros and the Tourism of the Centre of Portugal, for the support they have always given to this initiative. This gratitude is also extended to the private sector entities that, with their sponsorship, help to keep the continuity of this Festival...

...a Festival that, once again, delivers to this region of Serra da Estrela (now martyred by a hideous fire) the freshness provided by the exchange of the most diverse cultures that young and less young people, from various parts of our country and the world, bring to us!

Nuno Figueira

Director of the Festival 

After very troubled times, in which the restrictions of the pandemic induced very negative impacts in the culture, the Municipality of Seia redoubles its commitment in this area, with an intense cultural agenda, full of proposals for all audiences, with a wide programming.

It is time to innovate in diversity, that is, to renew the range of activities usually carried out by the Municipality, in a creative, dynamic, and more attractive logic, providing a wide range of cultural offers.

It is within the scope of a new strategy that intends to affirm Seia as a place producer and diffuser of talent, art and culture, that we welcome a new edition, the sixth, of the International Song Festival of Serra da Estrela.

This event represents an opportunity for cultural exchange, personal enrichment and the exchange of experiences and musical interpretation techniques, provided by the contact between participants of different nationalities.

In addition of being an instrument to promote our region, this is also a dynamic event for the economic activity, as it counts every year with dozens of subscribers, their companions and their families.

I greet all participants, inviting them to discover (or rediscover) a region with unique characteristics, increasingly attractive to live in, visit or invest in, whose main asset is its community.

I would like to express our gratitude to all the promoters and collaborators, from Tourism of Centre of Portugal to the Union of Parishes of Seia, São Romão and Lapa dos Dinheiros, who form this partnership with us, which will allow us to have in Seia a show of high quality and artistic creativity, made by young talents, for which I invite all citizens to participate.

The Mayor of Seia 

António Luciano da Silva Ribeiro