Festival Review: SQUARE aims for creativity and collaboration on Braga debut

Lightning splits the dark sky over Guimarães as we search for the venue, frantically trying to avoid yet another downpour. The mood among the group is, I’d say, slightly bewildered. Perhaps it’s the fact that the day has started with an electrical fire in the Braga hotel where many of the artists and delegates are staying, leaving some to roam the streets in flip-flops. Or perhaps it’s that we are still figuring out the festival’s unconventional multi-city setup.

SQUARE’s debut is nothing if not ambitious. Organised by local collective Lovers & Lollypops as part of Braga25, a programme celebrating Braga as the Portuguese Capital of Culture, the festival sprawls across four cities (Braga, Guimarães, Barcelos and Famalicão), dozens of venues and a diverse line-up of music, talks and cinema, spotlighting “voices and sounds often overlooked on more mainstream stages”, according to the programme. A four-day festival (Jan 29 – Feb 1), each day starts with panels, film screenings and lunch in Braga, followed by a coach ride to another city and several hours of concerts and DJ sets.

In Guimarães, the music cuts through the cold and gloom: Brazilian artist Jadsa’s warm vocals and batuque rhythms fill a basement bar in the elegant Centro Cultural Vila Flor, while Arianna Casellas & Kauê’s onomatopoeic vocals and the complex polyrhythms of their bamboo-tube percussion resonate in the stripped-down beauty of the restored 1930s Teatro Jordão. Just around the corner, a change of atmosphere is enough to give you whiplash: after descending a fire escape into a cavernous, dimly lit tunnel, Glaswegian duo comfort tear through a blistering assault of punk and abrasive vocals.

As the days progress and the weather improves, local audiences begin to fill the venues, and what had initially felt like an industry event gradually evolves into something more deeply woven into the cities’ daily lives and creative scenes.

The shift is clear on Thursday in Barcelos, where Amsterdam-based trio Housepainters attract curious onlookers with swirling synths and loud dub in the city’s bustling open-air market. Minutes later, Galician duo Caamaño&Ameixeiras bring their accordion and violin to the charming Museu da Olaria, weaving stories of love and spells through a masterful fusion of Galician tradition among the museum’s porcelain trinkets. In the evening, the raw energy of Portuguese hardcore punk band Hetta threatens to blow the walls off a shopping centre basement.

Fidju Kitxora is a festival highlight the next day in Famalicão; their relentless mix of vocal samples, heavy bass, guitar and drums conjure the rhythms and stories of the Cape Verdean diaspora. Back in Braga, El Khat’s Yemeni folk-punk experimentalism ushers in a night of high energy in the foyer of a vacant cinema: there’s frantic rhythms from Nyege Nyege’s De Schuurman, heavy bass from Brazilian ANTCONSTANTINO and hypnotic Sufi-fuelled productions from Guedra Guedra. Saturday offers a welcome change of pace, with several afternoon performances across some of Braga’s most stunning venues: at the opulent Teatro Circo, Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou fills the grandiose space with entrancing Gnawa rhythms.

The lack of headliners fosters an atmosphere of genuine intrigue, reserving more than a few surprises throughout the festival. Despite its large-scale logistics and broad geographical reach, SQUARE preserves the warmth of an intimate, community-focused spirit, offering plenty of chances for connection, whether during the shared meals (included in the five-day €50 pro-pass — a real bargain) or late-night coach rides back to Braga. In an era of increasing fragmentation and restricted movement, SQUARE may emerge as a new, vital space for connection and collaboration.