Vilar De Mouros Keeps It Simple

It was the 35th anniversary and cost 35 euros to see 35 bands, which was a good enough deal to persuade 54,000 people to buy tickets for this year’s Vilar De Mouros Festival.

Portoeventos chief Jorge Manuel Lopes, who has a new 10-year lease to run the festival for the local Caminha authority, said he’s already confirmed a 2007 appearance for former Beach Boy Brian Wilson and wants to stress that the event will be trawling for talent much earlier in future.

“The booking will be better organized,” he told Pollstar after doing the bill for this year’s event himself.

He was quick to point out that it’s no reflection on former co-booker Ricardo Casimiro, head of Tournee promoting company.

“There wasn’t enough work for both of us and it’s simpler to do it myself,” he explained.

Lopes and Casimiro only booked the 2005 festival together, after the local Mouros regional council – without giving a reason – said it no longer wanted Musica No Coracao to be involved in securing the international acts.

It was one of two festivals the Lisbon-based company lost in 2004, with Paredes de Coura Festival owner Joao Carvalho also deciding to dispense with Musica’s services.

Lopes said he’s happy the festival, which is known as “the Portuguese Woodstock” (but for no other reason than it started in 1968), pulled so well this year and that he intends to re-establish it as one of Europe’s major summer outdoors.

Among the acts costing a euro each July 21-23 were Tricky, Iggy & The Stooges, Cradle of Filth, Durutti Column, Hundred Reasons, Sepultura, Soulfly, Mojave 3 and Moonspell.

The 2007 dates for Vilar de Mouros are July 20-22.

– John Gammon