Portugal: RTP and Guimarães City Council sign official protocol ahead of FdC 2018

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 369 views

RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster has officially kicked off the preparations for the forthcoming 2018 Portuguese national final, Festival da Cançao, in Guimarães.

RTP and the Camara Municipal de Guimarães met this Thursday in Lisbon for the signing of the collaboration protocol regarding the organization of the Grand Final Festival da Cançao 2018, which will take place on March 4, at the Multiusos of Guimarães.

Gonçalo Reis and Domingos Bragança, in a ceremony presided over by the presidents of the entities involved, reaffirmed the commitment of RTP and the Guimarães City Council teams in the accomplishment of this event of great visibility and importance at national level, aiming at the promotion of Portuguese music.

This was the first step of an objective defined by RTP – the decentralization of  Festval da Cançao. The Portuguesen national broadcaster has already expressed its interest to decentralize the musical event in the next three years. An initiative that aims to bring the Portuguese song contest  closer to the Portuguese population throughout its territory.

Mr. Gonçalo Reis, RTP’s president says:

In addition to the work of reinventing its concept, last year we assumed the commitment to decentralize Festival da Cançao. We did a competitive analysis and Guimarães was the city that met all the conditions for the end of the event.

Mr. Domingos Bragança, President of the Municipality of Guimarães says:

A great show is being prepared for the country and for the world! Guimarães meets all the conditions to host an event of this dimension. The concept of the festival has been reinvented, now having the particularity of attracting and captivating many young people.

The Grand Final of the 2018 Festival da Cançao will play a key role in boosting Guimarães  economy by attracting hundreds of fans to the city. Fans and people attendding the event will have the unique opportunity to experience  the richness of the cultural heritage of the region, which is inserted in its identity as the cradle of the Portuguese nation.

The Grand Final of Festival da Cançao 2018

The Grand Final of Festival da Cançao is scheduled to be held on 4 March at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Guimarães in Guimarães. A total of 14 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Lisbon. The gala will be hosted by Filomena Cautela (Eurovision 2018 host) and Pedro Fernandes.

The show will be held at 21:00 CET and will broadcast live on RTP 1, RTP International, RTP Africa, RTP Asia, RTP America and will be streamed live on RTP Play.