How important are events for the Lisboa brand?

Promoting Lisboa as a lively, vibrant and progressive city, nationally and internationally, is one of the City Council's goal, in communicating and managing the events it organises and to which it is associated.

Today, the Lisboa brand is, admittedly, one of the strongest at the national level - perhaps the one that has the greatest impact among public brands -, achieving great international notoriety. The brand is associated with the identity of the city: safe, genuine, open, tolerant, welcoming, cosmopolitan, diverse, charming, intimate, vibrant, historical and innovative, avant-garde, surprising, unique, friendly, bright, appealing...

All these adjectives are the result of thought out and matured municipal strategic options, with a lot of determined work and, above all, the support of the people of Lisbon who are being reviewed in this mirror of identity. In and out of doors, the Lisbon brand stands juxtaposed with what it moves: creative restlessness of youth, innovative audacity in the arts and entrepreneurship, entertainment in public space requalified, quality of urban life, friendly conviviality and, of course, holding events that "seduce" domestic and foreign tourists at first sight.

Events are both the fuel and the flame of the Lisboa brand. They feed the city's attractiveness and it gives them visibility in return. Covering practically all areas of citizen interest, the municipality promotes, on its own initiative or in partnership, wide dozens of annual events of great impact. Whether social, scientific, academic, business, technological, sports, cultural, artistic, recreational or touristic, events with the Lisboa brand are synonymous with success, quality and public support.

Many of these events result from the competitive ability of the Lisboa brand, attracting them on national and international circuits and adding them to its image. This is the case, for example, of Rock in Rio Lisboa, since 2004 in Parque da Belavista, the returned Super Bock Super Rock, the Tour of Portugal by Bicycle, the Marathons, the Volvo Ocean Race or, more recently, the Web Summit, with evident advantages in terms of immediate financial return and medium and long term tourist promotion.

Others, organised by the City Council, the municipal company EGEAC or others still organised in partnership with other entities, have gained an eminent Lisboa stamp: the Christmas entertainment and the New Year's Eve Party, Santo António Weddings, Festivals with popular food and music, Popular Marches, Moda Lisboa, Caixa Alfama Festival (the biggest Fado initiative in the country), São Bento Nights, Picnicão, MexeFest that invigorates theatres during the low season, Lisboa on the Street or Out Jazz when the summer breeze invites you out, and many others with an eclectic and unexpected offer.

A city of departures and arrivals, plural and welcoming Lisboa is also a reference in the promotion of events (mostly free and accessible) that value intercultural dialogue and diversity - age, ethnic or social origin, gender, sexual orientation, religious, physical, mobil or financial capacity, etc. TODOS festival, Chinese New Year celebrations, Ratha Yatra parade, among others, are examples of unequivocal moments of reassertion of an open, tolerant and multicultural city.

In Lisboa, entertainment can not stop; and the city's brand proclaims that everyone here is welcome.

Maria do Carmo Rosa
Director of the Brand and Communication Department of CML (Lisboa City Council)