Jardins Abertos – Autumn Edition

Continuing our exploration of the theme of food, our Autumn Edition aimed to fit with the seasonal cycles by addressing agricultural production in an urban context, as well as identifying spontaneously growing edible species. There was also a focus on the transformation and preservation of foods, with special attention given to this season’s fungi and mushrooms.

This edition featured 15 gardens, including 4 new ones, which saw guided visits take place on both weekends: the Municipal Nursery at Pimenteira Farm, the Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles Urban Park, the Chelas Valley Horticultural Park and the Alvalade Community Upfarm. Along with our visitors, we sowed the seeds of cultivation, curiosity, exchange, care and celebration.

The Spring Edition of Jardins Abertos Festival took place across five days and involved 23 partners, 68 volunteers and 14,000 visitors.

Gardens, research sites and community projects from previous editions took part again, such as Lisbon’s Estufa Fria, Fronteira Palace Gardens, Monteiro-Mor Botanical Park, Bela Flor Agroforest, Alto da Eira Farm, Raiz Farm and Permalab. There was a new entry in the programme, São Mamede House Garden, which was open to visitors over both weekends of the festival.

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.

Our Autumn Edition 2022 was attended by around 20,000 participants, of which 7,650 were in-person and 10,480 were virtual.
Jardins Abertos – Spring Edition

The 9th edition of Jardins Abertos festival took place, as usual, during two consecutive weekends, on May 21-22 and 28-29.

In this edition, visits to the Procuradoria-Geral da República Gardens, Lisbon’s Estufa Fria, Palacete de São Bento Garden, NÃM Urban Farm, Tropical Botanical Garden, Italian Embassy’s Garden and other special gardens were possible. A new garden was also added to the programme: Permalab, a space open to interdisciplinary and transformative research-innovation-action relating to permaculture in a community context.

The Spring Edition 2022 was attended by more than 48,000 participants, of which 24,149 were in-person and 23,917 were virtual.

The first ever Summer Edition of the Jardins Abertos festival took place over two consecutive weekends in September, 4/5 and 11/12.

In addition to the usual virtual and physical format, the Summer Edition of the festival had both daytime and night-time programmes, allowing participants to see Lisbon’s gardens in a different light. Gardens like Procuradoria Geral da República, Estufa Fria, and Estrela Garden were open later than usual, the latter with a guided tour in the evening. In the warmth of the night, flowers that only open in darkness perfume the air and signal their presence to nocturnal pollinators.

The Summer Edition 2021 was attended by more than 33,000 participants — 10,557 in person and 22,254 virtually.

Another flower-filled edition that took place over the last two weekends of May, on 22/23 and 29/30, with in-person and virtual formats.

The programme included more than 27 gardens spread across the city of Lisbon, and saw the launch of a new type of visit, Secret Gardens, where participants had the opportunity to visit private gardens in Lisbon and get to know their owners. As is customary, the festival closed with the Jardins Abertos Market in Príncipe Real Garden, where partners, brands and artists had the opportunity to exhibit and share their work and sell their products.

More than 54 thousand members of the public attended the Spring Edition 2021, 17,300 in person and 36,811 virtually.

As in the previous year, 2020’s festival was split across two editions: Spring and Autumn. In response to the pandemic, both editions involved both in-person and virtual activities and took place over two consecutive weekends. The Autumn Edition took place on 17/18 and 24/25 October. Both editions formed part of the programme for Lisbon’s year as European Green Capital.

As well as reopening several gardens from the Spring Edition, the Autumn Edition saw the arrival of three new partners: Bela Flor Agroforest, Olivais Pedagogical Farm and HortasLX at Village Underground. Another first this year was the participation of all of Lisbon’s botanical gardens: the Ajuda Botanical Garden, the Tropical Botanical Garden, the Lisbon Botanical Garden and the Monteiro-Mor Botanical Park (the latter also took part in the virtual programme).

The 2020 Autumn Edition was attended by more than 48.000 people. Of these, 12.141 were in person and 35.987 were virtual.

In 2020 the circumstances have changed, but Spring has not been cancelled. The Spring Edition of Jardins Abertos [Open Gardens] was included in the programming of the European Green Capital and happened over two consecutive weekends — June 18/19 and 25/26, in a physical and virtual format.

From this editions programme we would like to highlight gardens that were unprecedented in the festival like the CCB Gardens, Palacete de São Bento Garden, Eastern Riverside Park, NÃM Urban Farm, Gardens of EDP Foundation Campus, and the Tropical Botanical Garden — the last one was only available on the virtual edition.

The Spring Edition had over 176.000 participations — 170.262 in the virtual edition and 6.503 in the physical one.

In 2019, for the first time, Jardins Abertos festival had two editions: one in spring and one in autumn.

In October, participants were invited into greenhouses and winter gardens, as temperatures drop, leaves fall, and colours change with the new season.

Growing naturally like a forest, the festival had over 25.000 participations in both editions.

In 2019, the project received the Alto Patrocínio do Presidente da República (Grand Patronage of the President of the Republic) which, added to the support of the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (Lisbon City Council), allowed our Spring Edition to incorporate a variety of displays, workshops and activities, as well as giving access to yet more unique gardens around the city.

Over 12.000 participants were welcomed by a team of more than 70 volunteers.

In the gardens that opened their gates during the last weekend of May, there were free visits and guided visits led by volunteers, owners or specialists who talked about the botanical species, landscaping, history, identity, and curiosities of each garden.

In 2018, a partnership with the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (Lisbon City Council) project expanded. The number of gardens taking part grew to 23, and activities, both educational and cultural, were organised to suit all generations.

This second edition had yet again a large public turnout and received excellent feedback from the participants, guides, garden owners, institutional partners, and the media.

More than 8.000 members of the public were welcomed by a team of 30 volunteers.

Jardins Abertos started on May 20th 2017 as a guided walk 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.

Visits to ten gardens were led by eight volunteer guides in a walk through different areas of the city, starting in Graça, following through Mouraria, Rossio, Avenida da Liberdade, Rua de O Século, and finishing in Praça das Flores, in Príncipe Real. The festival ended with a closing party with a DJ at Praça das Flores, where participants from different groups were able to share their experiences and exchange ideas about the initiative.

Jardins Abertos 2017 was a moment of undeniable sharing (especially of private gardens), encouraging greater social inclusion and a sense of belonging within an urban context, fostering community spirit around the gardens and strengthening the connection between residents, visitors, and the city.