NOS Alive 2026 closes with Florence + the Machine and Buraka Som Sistema reunion, sets 2027 return July 8-10
Over 160,000 attendees packed the Passeio Marítimo de Algés over three days. The final night featured Lorde, Teddy Swims, and a closing set by Buraka Som Sistema marking their 20th anniversary.
Three days of music and crowds
The 18th edition of NOS Alive wrapped up on Saturday, 11 July 2026, at the Passeio Marítimo de Algés in Lisbon. Across three days, the festival drew around 160,000 people, with two of those days reaching full capacity, according to director Álvaro Covões. More than 120 artists, bands and authors performed on eight stages, a scale that Covões said proved "all stages are main stages."
All stages are main stages. The new Literary Stage was also a success and a source of pride.
The main stage schedule unfolded over three distinct nights: Thursday opened with Twenty One Pilots, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, A Perfect Circle and The Royston Club; Friday was anchored by Foo Fighters alongside The Warning, Skunk Anansie and Wolf Alice; Saturday brought a genre-hopping finale from Don West’s soul through Florence + the Machine’s atmospheric rock to the long-awaited reunion of Buraka Som Sistema.
- Twenty One Pilots, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, A Perfect Circle, The Royston Club
- Foo Fighters, The Warning, Skunk Anansie, Wolf Alice
- Don West, Teddy Swims, Lorde, Florence + the Machine, Buraka Som Sistema
Saturday's final lineup
The final programme on the NOS Stage ran for roughly eight hours, starting at 17:30 with Australian singer Don West, whose set leaned on contemporary soul and R&B. American vocalist Teddy Swims followed, his rise fuelled by the global hit "Lose Control" and a blend of soul, pop, rock and country. New Zealand’s Lorde returned to a Portuguese festival stage in the early evening with her characteristically intimate, emotionally charged pop. At 22:35, British band Florence + the Machine took over, with Florence Welch’s operatic intensity, orchestral arrangements and visual spectacle turning the set into the night’s headline moment. The festival closed with Buraka Som Sistema, who used the occasion to celebrate two decades of blending kuduro with electronic music.
Fans camp out for front row
Dozens of fans began queueing almost 24 hours before gates opened on Saturday, aiming to secure a spot at the front for Florence + the Machine. Among the first were Inês and Leonor, who travelled directly from the Porto district. Their waiting kit included food, water, sunscreen and warm layers for the early hours. The devotion underscored the pull of the British band’s emotive live shows, while a similar contingent gathered early for Lorde’s performance later in the day. Gates opened at 15:00, and by mid-afternoon the seaside venue was already filling.
Foo Fighters streaming breaks records
Friday night’s Foo Fighters concert was broadcast live worldwide via streaming, an initiative that Covões said broke audience records. The stream gave the festival a global footprint, complementing the on-site figures of 160,000 over three days. That day also marked the debut of a new Literary Stage, which the organisers called a source of pride and a bet that had paid off.
NOS Alive 2027 announced
As is tradition, the festival used its closing day to confirm the next edition: NOS Alive 2027 will run on 8, 9 and 10 July. That will be the festival’s 19th edition. Covões noted that no Portuguese headliner reunion of the scale of past returns is currently on the horizon, but said artist announcements would begin soon. With this year’s two sold-out days and the success of the Foo Fighters stream, the 2027 edition will aim to extend the festival’s run of capacity crowds at Algés.
