Carnival In Lisbon

Although Rock In Rio executive vice president Roberta Medina was obviously pleased to see 220,000 turn up for the first leg of the Lisbon edition of this year’s festival, she told Pollstar that seeing the event capture a family-friendly carnival atmosphere made her even happier.

"On the last day, when we had 45,000 people, over 8,000 were children," she said. "Of course they come to see the acts, but also they’re coming to walk around the park and look at all the activities."

The first night of the May 30 to June 1 event saw 90,000 people turn up to Bela Vista Park to see a bill that included Lenny Kravitz, Amy Winehouse, Ivete Sangalo, and Paulo Gonzo, which matched the record daily crowd that saw a bill headed by Shakira in 2006.

Medina, the daughter of event founder Roberto Medina, believes the first night of the June 4-5 leg, which was due to have Metallica, Machine Head, Apocalyptica and Moonspell, may equal it.

Other acts on the first leg included James Morrison, Bon Jovi, Alejandro Sanz, Alanis Morissette, Rod Stewart, Joss Stone and Tokio Hotel.

The June 5-6 leg was scheduled to have Linkin Park, The Offspring, Kaiser Chiefs and Muse.