1996
The Andanças – International Festival of Traditional Music and Dance was born in 1996 from the desire of a group of traditional culture lovers associated with PédeXumbo. In its first year, it was held in Évora for around one hundred and fifty participants.
1997 - 1998
Andanças took place for two years at the Fraguinha campsite. It was the only event of its kind in the country, with a different concept from other summer festivals. During the day you learn the steps and in the evening you have the opportunity to dance. The day is taken up not only with dance workshops from all over the world, which encourage contact and learning about dance and the culture of different peoples, but also with parallel activities such as instrument building, BookCrossing, children’s areas, talks, presentations of works, stories and tales and many other spontaneous performances that take place in the space. It’s also a night for dancing, with jam sessions that last until the morning!
1999 - 2010
Between 1999 and 2010 it was held in the village of Carvalhais, where it grew from a small festival to a nationwide event with thousands of participants.
Almost the entire organization is the work of a huge team of volunteers, including musicians, assistants, collaborators, trainers and activity leaders. The festival’s social and economic policy focuses heavily on ecology to reduce any negative impact it may have. Exemplary pollution reduction measures are implemented at the level of organizations such as: Zero Plastic, water reuse, resource reuse, permanent hygiene, etc. The festival’s economic sustainability is based on institutional and volunteer collaboration, leaving aside the need to sacrifice visual and intellectual space with advertising.
2011
In 2011, the PédeXumbo Association, organizer of the festival, went through a period of internal reflection about its objectives and principles as an alternative to consumer society. It concluded that the festival needed to be restructured and held it in a smaller format, as part of the Danças na Água Festival in the parish of Ratoeira (Celorico da Beira) in the municipality of Celorico da Beira, Portugal.
2013 - 2016
Between 2013 and 2016, Andanças took place at the Nossa Senhora da Graça de Póvoa e Meadas reservoir, where it reached its largest format, with around 8,000 participants per day in recent years.
2017 - 2018
After the fire in the 2016 edition, which took place at the Póvoa e Meadas Dam, the Andanças Festival organization rethought the format of the festival, taking the 2027 and 2018 editions to the town of Castelo de Vide, where around 1500 participants arrived each day. These were two editions that communicated with the whole town and allowed the Andanças spirit to survive.
Desde 2021
After a two-year break, due to the change of venue to an Alentejo location closer to PédeXumbo’s headquarters in Évora, and the pandemic, Andanças will return in 2021.
In 2021, the Andanças Festival found a new home in Campinho, a village in the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, overlooking the Alentejo plain, cork oaks and holm oaks, 3km from the Alqueva water mirror. That year we started “Walking to Andanças”, in a special edition to get to know the region and look to the future of the festival, with around 60 people. And so, the following year, Andanças sprouted in Campinho, bringing back the festival’s four pillars – Dance&Music, Volunteering, Community and Sustainability – and the large family of “Andantes”. A challenging edition that embraced the whole village and also received the embrace of this community! An embrace that also reached hundreds of new dancers, bringing new life to the Andanças spirit.
After the 2023 edition, we will meet again from August 14 to 17, 2025, in partnership with Reguengos de Monsaraz Town Hall, the Campo and Campinho Parish Council and the Gente Nova de Campinho Association.