Andanças is a festival for the promotion of popular music and dance as the primary means of learning and exchange between generations, knowledge and cultures. Always up-to-date, Andanças aims to revive the social habits of “living” the music and to resume the practice of popular dance events. Andanças implements this focusing on traditional dances, from Portugal and from all over the world, always considering the recovery of musical and choreographic traditions, but also mixing them with contemporary elements.

At Andanças it is possible to learn more than fifty different types of dances:
A result from the synergy between people around the world, who are eager to share their knowledge. From Portuguese, African and American dances to the various European dances: From Hungarians, gypsies, Baltics, Belgians, Italians, Basques, Catalans, from Poitou, the Balkan, Galicia, the Mediterranean region, etc. Besides encouraging the curiosity for diversity, Andanças is trying to remind, that the popular music is (also) a synonym of identity and often a symbol of survival.

Every year since 1996, Andanças unites people from all over the world in a spirit of sharing, meeting and sustainability, as an alternative to other summer festivals. It provides room for dancing, making music, and to experiment, but also for sharing and exchanging ideas for a better world.

The festival has been in Évora, Fraguinha in the Serra da Gralheira, Carvalhais in S. Pedro do Sul and in Celorico da Beira. In 2013 it settled alongside the dammed lake Barragem de Póvoa e Meadas, in Castelo de Vide. In 2014, a new cycle begins with an even better Andanças, offering the best possible comfort and well-being to all participants. The number of participants is limited, appropriate for the new scale of the festival program. This ensures, that Andanças is going to be a place to be at ease, a place for learning and sharing, and a place full of fun for everyone.