A party in Águeda

"There were people who said that they just wanted to hear Omar Souleyman, the rest is more or less the same." The words were from a man with aged skin and long gray hair, which was about 70 years old. He was sitting next to us on the terrace of the restaurant. "It's Arabic music." The restaurant where we were was what we can call a "typical restaurant". Grilled veal steak and fries also grilled and served with fries were the only two dishes available at dinner time. There was no more desserts.

We are in Águeda, a town in the Aveiro district but inland – unlike Ílhavo. The day had been sunny but had ended with a little cold. It was also a party. Acts' Águeda, a festival organized by the City Council that every year by the height of July animates the streets of the city. Colorful umbrellas paint a few streets in the historic center, there is music constantly coming out loudspeakers and activities for families for a month, a meeting of live statues at a canine parade, or even a carnival outside the hours or concerts of the most varied genres.

Animated agitation Águeda

Agità Águeda aligns well with the rest of the city. Umbrellas were found in streets and bars other than those in the center, as well as in decorative lamps. There is urban art in every corner, whether it's whole buildings or a part of them, but also banks or cash desks. Electricity Without Acting Águeda, there is less animation in Águeda, but this is not dead point. It's a smart city, which uses technology to improve people's lives and urban management. There is a "command center" where you can receive incidents reported by citizens and find immediate solutions, as well as monitor what is happening in real time on the street. There is a public Wi-Fi network, an app that lets you explore hidden animations in the city's art, tablets in the classroom, a free lab where you can print in 3D or laser cut. These are perhaps the most visible project of the city by those who visit it.

The docks are the same as those of the GIRA system in Lisbon, and the bicycles too. But we did not see it in the street – Águeda already had a bike sharing system that apparently began to be renovated in 2017 and will only be composed of electric vehicles and should not be finished. It is assembled by Orbit, a bicycle company born in Águeda in 1971, which exports more than 80% of its production worldwide and which has been renovated with a shared bicycle solution, already used by cities like Benavente or Pombal, In addition to Águeda and Lisbon. The inn where we stayed is also a sign of the commercial dynamism of Águeda. It was inaugurated a year ago: "We made them two weeks ago" one of the employees told us that she also had to be the owner, while she handed us the keys. The space still smelled new: there were several rooms with bunks with a curtain each, a bar with an outdoor garden, breakfast "do it yourself" and a decoration between the vintage the modern and the young

We expected to find more complete, of course, especially with Act Águeda running and Omar Souleyman at night. But we quickly realize, by looking around, that those who participate in these festivals come mainly from Águeda but there are also those who come from the outside – half an hour by train. 39, Aveiro, followed by an hour from Porto or Coimbra; or a total of three hours in Lisbon, all by train. Yet it is an environment that is familiar to us, but which, in the midst of this familiarity, is going to have some surprises. Municipalities like Águeda are seeking with this type of initiative to attract people from outside – they are like an invitation to know the village, the village, the city, the region; Who knows if we do not like it and want to come back. If not, what excuse would we have to go to Águeda?

Festim, a festival of world music that directs the municipalities of Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Sever

Omar Souleyman to shake even more

Omar Souleyman would not act to Acted Águeda, do Vouga, Estarreja, Ílhavo and Oliveira do Azeméis during several weekends . Águeda had already received concerts from La Yegros and Waldemar Bastos, and was preparing to host the closing of this 10th edition of Festim with Omar, an acclaimed musician from Western Syria. Omar Souleyman was in 2011 at Paredes de Coura festival, returned to Portugal in 2017 with a new album – To Syria, With Love – which he presented at Vila Nova de Gaia. In May of this year, he was in Lisbon. Syria of 2011 is not the same Syria of 2018. Seven years ago began an endless conflict – "began with a revolt against dictator Bashar al-Assad but soon became a long and brutal proxy war " writes the observer. According to the United Nations Human Rights Observatory (OSDH), since 2011, the Syrian war has already caused [5195013] 511,000 deaths and forced 5.6 million people to leave the country in search of of security – the Syria, with the love is, as the title is elucidated, a gift for the Syrians A story that says the the pain that terrifies his country (but does not address politics) appears, but also beautiful themes because the Syrians are, above all, a positive people. Omar currently lives in Turkey because his life requires constant travel and in Syria there are no international flights since 2012. His career started in the 1990s at weddings and it was in this life and in his country (beyond which he did not think he could succeed) which has recorded more than 500 live albums. In 2007, an American publisher discovered Omar and showed it to the world – some developed sect indie . This is how Omar arrived in Europe, Canada, Australia, Paredes de Coura, Águeda. This is how he played at the British Glastonbury Festival in 2011 or at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 2014;

There is something about Omar Souleyman linking us to the West. It is not this kind of "music in the world" that we quickly accept, which in a way corresponds to the models we are used to writes The Guardian. It's not through the letters that these do not understand all of them. So it can only be rhythms – or those who have gone to Syrian tradition and who are coming out of synthesizers, or those that the Syrian musician tries to wrest from the audience every time he asks for applause . In Águeda, on a stage near the Vouga, Omar got what he had done seven years ago in Coura: to make the whole audience dance. He was entitled to a version of the Spanish "Macarena". And in the end, there were those – almost everyone – who asked for more, but Omar did not do it again.

We returned to Lisbon after an afternoon and a night in Águeda. We made the trip by train, as on the way, across the North Line and after the Vouga Line, one of the most neglected rail links in Portugal. So despised that he is stopped by a taxi service. Trains full of graffiti that did not reveal the view, but nevertheless circulated at an acceptable speed. Half an hour to Aveiro is a short trip, made to read the regional press to kill the curiosity of the area – the region of Águeda and the newspaper of Bairrada. The latter received the "Gazeta Regional Press Award 2013". In the first, I found an interview with Luís Fernandes, of the Orfeu association, which organizes the Festim, and in which he said: "In the chambers and constituencies of all municipalities, the mixture of the local community " The official also stated that the Festim " ushered in a philosophy of networking in our region " and recalled that the festival is part of the community. an international network of music festivals around the world, "which gives it wide recognition among artists and allows unparalleled programming possibilities" . In another article, Agit's beer – Águeda, the Mahou – a Spanish brand marketed and sold in the various bars, benches and other spaces of the festival exclusively, was mentioned, which left Super Bock and Sagres on the outside; a decision that sparked political controversy and the Super Bock Group and Central Cervejas