About

What happens when you bring together professionals working in gardening, landscaping, culture and sustainability? The answer: a festival in which Lisbon’s most enthralling gardens open their gates to the public, all for free.

The very first edition, which took place in May 2017, consisted of a guided tour organised by a small but very passionate team. With only 80 places available, over 3,000 people had applied within the first 48 hours after launch. Ten gardens took part in the programme, with eight volunteer guides leading groups on foot on a route between Graça and Príncipe Real.

In 2018, a partnership with the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (Lisbon City Council) allowed the project to expand. The number of gardens taking part grew to 23 and activities both educational and cultural were organised to suit all generations. More than 8,000 members of the public were welcomed by a team of 30 volunteers.

In 2019, the project received the Alto Patrocínio do Presidente da República (Grand Patronage of the President of the Republic) and, with the support of the City Council, for the first time, the festival had two editions: one in Spring and one in Autumn. Growing naturally like a forest, the festival had over 25,000 participants in both seasons.

With the pandemic, everything changed, but that didn’t mean nature was cancelled. Forming part of the programme for Lisbon’s year as European Green Capital, 2020’s Jardins Abertos [Open Gardens] editions took place in Spring and Autumn across two consecutive weekends. The in-person programme across the two editions was attended by more than 19,000 participants, while the virtual programme drew an audience of over 200,000. In 2021, besides the usual Spring Edition, we had a first-ever Summer Edition with a night-time programme. Together, the two editions had about 28,000 participants.

In Autumn 2022, Jardins Abertos festival reached its 10th edition. To celebrate, we opened 10 new gardens, rediscovered 10 others with brand new guided visits by specialists and, for the first time, our programme included the presentation of 10 artistic works in gardens. Together, the Spring and Autumn editions had about 32,000 participants.

Come and discover Lisbon’s gardens!