Long-running Portuguese festival Super Bock Super Rock will not take place in 2025, according to the beer brand.

“As is public knowledge, Super Bock Super Rock is changing promoters,” reads a statement from the sponsor, Super Bock. “In this sense, we are in the process of transitioning with the aim of holding a major festival in 2026.”

Late last year, it was announced that Música no Coração would no longer organise the major international festival after launching it 30 years ago.

“My company turned 33 last Friday – 29 of those years were made in a partnership with the Super Bock brand,” Música no Coração MD Luis Montez told IQ in February.

“We are in the process of transitioning with the aim of holding a major festival in 2026”

“We are still partners in other events, but I realised, as a businessman and in tune with the brand, that this was the right moment for Música no Coração to end its involvement with Super Bock Super Rock, leaving behind a unique brand and legacy that has, year after year, built a national and international reputation.”

Super Bock Super Rock has been organised in various formats and locations in Portugal, Spain and Angola. The festivals have hosted international stars such as Prince, The Cure, David Bowie, Van Morrison, Coldplay, Pixies, Metallica, Arcade Fire, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar.

The 2024 edition, which took place between 18–20 July at Herdade do Cabeço da Flauta, was headlined by Måneskin, Stormzy and 21 Savage.

The Lisbon counterpart Super Bock em Stock, organised by Música no Coração, did not take place last year.

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Música no Coração MD Luis Montez has announced the cancellation of Sudoeste festival, which has been held in Zambujeira do Mar in Portugal since 1997. Montez said that the event – which this year hosted international artists including Martin Garrix, Tems, Don Toliver, Charlotte De Witte and Anitta – will take a break in “preparation for a new chapter”.

The decision was made due to not being able to find a sponsor for the event, Montez tells IQ, adding that it was “difficult to compete” with free concerts from city councils in a year of local elections.

The cancellation comes months after it was announced that Música no Coração would no longer organise Super Bock Super Rock after launching the major international festival 30 years ago.

“My company turned 33 last Friday – 29 of those years were made in a partnership with the Super Bock brand,” Montez tells IQ. “We are still partners in other events, but I realised, as a businessman and in tune with the brand, that this was the right moment for Música no Coração to end its involvement with Super Bock Super Rock, leaving behind a unique brand and legacy that has, year after year, built a national and international reputation.

“As happens in all companies, we are restructuring the business”

“My decision is part of the strategy that we have been preparing for over a year for the near future,” he continues. “The world has changed, festivals are changing, and we want to stay at the forefront, always among the best.”

Montez refuted claims made in local media that the ownership of the Sudoeste brand had been transferred to state tax authorities. “Sudoeste Festival brand is ours,” he tells IQ. “Because of Covid, we made an agreement plan with the tax authorities and have regularised declarations. For this plan to happen, we provided the Sudoeste brand as a guarantee.”

Super Bock Super Rock was organised in various formats and locations in Portugal, Spain and Angola. The festivals have hosted international stars such as Prince, The Cure, David Bowie, Van Morrison, Coldplay, Pixies, Metallica, Arcade Fire, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, and Måneskin.

Dates for Super Bock Super Rock 2025 have been outlined but no acts have been announced. Last year, Lisbon counterpart Super Bock em Stock, organised by Música no Coração, did not take place.

Addressing speculation about the company’s financial position, Montez says: “As happens in all companies, we are restructuring the business. Covid caused us difficulties, like all entrepreneurs in this area, but we are recovering, and we are solid. I am making capital injections into Música do Coração as needed.

“We started 2025 with liquidity and ambition. It’s the year to solidify and grow our festivals but we also aim to align with the market trends and also focus on headline shows.”

Música no Coração’s festival portfolio also includes Sumol Summer Fest, Jardins do Marquês and Caixa Alfama, all of which have been announced for 2025.

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The Global Promoters Report, a first-of-its-kind resource that highlights the world’s leading promoters and the 40 top markets they operate in, is now available to subscribers of IQ.

In an excerpt from the guide, IQ delves into a key stop-off on all major European tours and the Latin foothold on the doorstep of Europe: Portugal.

Come to Portugal, they say, and get the world. A key stop-off on all major European tours by the biggest international stars, it’s also the Latin foothold on the doorstep of Europe, opening this sunny corner of the continent to acts and outdoor events from Africa and South America.

It’s in Lisbon that Brazil’s mammoth Rock in Rio extravaganza found its second home, bringing the likes of Muse, Post Malone, Duran Duran, and Black Eyed Peas to the 80,000-capacity Bela Vista Parque in June. And it’s here that major promoters including Everything Is New, Ritmos E Blues, Better World, PEV Entertainment, and Música No Coração have seen a steady return to pre-pandemic numbers, thanks to a pancultural scene mingling rock, pop, and rap with afro and Latin music.

“People were eager to get out,” says Paulo Dias, general manager of UAU, who were proud of their ability to revive the stalled 2020 STOMP shows in Portugal to full houses in 2022, precisely two years after the production was mothballed when the pandemic struck. “We still had parts of the set at the theatre, kept there since 2020! At the moment, the main problem is that there are too many shows available for a market which is not so big. And with the financial crisis on the horizon, I’m afraid we won’t have enough public buying tickets for everything on offer.”

“At the moment, the main problem is that there are too many shows available for a market which is not so big”

Yet more and more people are coming to Portugal. Tourism has boomed during 2022, and immigration has helped boost the entertainment industry. “There are very new opportunities and challenges in Portugal with the amount of foreigners moving here,” says Música No Coração MD Luis Montez. “Portugal is a very safe and economic country, with beautiful weather. It’s the best for outdoor events.”

And one of the most flexible and professional, too, as Música No Coração (MNC) proved by relocating the annual Super Bock Super Rock festival from Meco beach to Lisbon’s Parque das Nações for 2022, a feat the team achieved in just 48 hours after fire regulations were put in place around the original forested site. A$AP Rocky, Foals, and C. Tangana headlined the festival, one of MNC’s proudest moments of the year alongside Now United’s four arena gigs and the MEO Sudoeste festival in Odemira, featuring Major Lazer, Rex Orange County, and Steve Aoki.

“There are amazing conditions,” says Montez of the state of the market. “Prices in Portugal are still very good, and our professionals are highly qualified. [Although] with the rise of the cost of living, we ́ve noticed that people are buying tickets closer to the show date, and due to that we are thinking about introducing payment by instalments for our music festivals.”

“Prices in Portugal are still very good, and our professionals are highly qualified”

Montez points to beachside festivals such as Rolling Loud, held at Portimão on the Algarve, as examples of events that utilise the country’s strengths to the utmost advantage, and to November’s alternative music bonanza Super Bock em Stock in Lisbon as evidence that Portugal can host some of the finest off-season, city-based showcase festivals in the world. He does highlight one particular summer drawback, however. “Touring productions need to pay special attention to the flights,” he says. “Our airports are completely full during summer.”

Beyond solid audience connection and promotion on the myriad of online platforms, Montez says festivals such as Super Bock em Stock are key to breaking through on the Portuguese grassroots scene. “To have the opportunity to play live is the best promotion for an artist,” he says. “The grassroots scene is mixing a lot of traditional sounds with electronic music. Afro, funk, and electronic indie genres are surging a lot. EDM is declining a bit because there ́s nothing very new and awesome coming up.”

Despite some pandemic talent stagnation, Montez predicts a solid future for Portugal’s globally welcoming live industry. “With the improvement of the economic situation, the market will grow,” he says, “and the charger will be the great growth of music from Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Brazil.”

The Global Promoters Report is published in print, digitally, and all content is also available as a year-round resource on the IQ site. The Global Promoters Report includes key summaries of the major promoters working across 40+ markets, unique interviews and editorial on key trends and developments across the global live music business.

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