The location of the concert and the artists are only revealed 36 hours before the event.

Cultural organisations Contextos and Plutão de Verão have teamed up to bring Sofar Sounds to Faro on December 2, a global community bringing together more than 400 cities worldwide through music. Presenting monthly live concerts in a unique format, Sofar Sounds concert locations and artists are only ever revealed to concertgoers 36 hours before the events.

Sofar Sounds was founded in a small London flat in 2009 to “bring back the magic of live music events”. Since then, it has been uniting audiences worldwide, serving as a launching pad for artists such as Billie Eilish, Jorja Smith, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Leon Bridges. In November 2019, the project had already hosted more than 22,000 gigs.

The surprise choice of location and musical curation guarantee unique moments. “We can do a session in a museum and the following month in someone’s living room. The surprise is part of the experience, and it is truly exciting: as an audience and as organisers of the event”, says Andrei Serotini, musician and project manager at Contextos.

“There’s a very genuine nervous feeling when you buy a ticket, and you don’t know what you’re going to hear. This puts even more attention on the music, the performers and the venue we choose,” he adds.

For Contextos and cultural association Plutão de Verão, celebrating local identity is part of the project they are trying to create. “Musical culture is very important in Faro. We all believe that this project will only work if we consider the city and region’s specificities: the locations we choose, the artists we want to present or the way we communicate with the public. And we have two multidisciplinary teams crossing ideas and working together for this to happen”, says Ana Beatriz Lopes, actress and producer of the project at Plutão de Verão.

Without revealing the identity or genre of the artists, the organisers guarantee that they have many surprises planned for the event, “Musical and not only, and we are all working so that each Sofar Sounds Faro is unforgettable and absolutely different of the former.”

The concert is scheduled for 19:30 on December 2 and will consist of two or three short sets from incredible performers from all musical genres.

Tickets cost €15 and are on sale here.